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PLUTARCH'S 
LIVES 



CONTAINING BRIEF AND ACCURATE ACCOUNTS 
OF THE LIVES OF FAMOUS GREEKS AND ROMANS 



Edited, with Introduction and Notes by 
EDWARD S. ELLIS, A. M. 

Author of " A Classical Dictionary/' etc. 



PHILADELPHIA 

THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1900 






|l-ibr.ry„tu 
TwCo«ESRECf. VF0 

JUN 16 1900 
corv 



2d 

°*D£R DIVISION 

JUL 9 1900 



KION } 

I900_J 



64902 

Copyright 1895 by the Woolfaix Company 



DPYRIGHT I9OO BY THE PeNN PUBLISHING COMPANV 



/ 



(/£>& 



CONTENTS. 






PAGSf 

Introduction, k 

Theseus, i*> 

xvOMULUS, 2C> 

LYCURGUS, . . . . . . .24 

NUMA, 31 

Solon, 36 

publigola, . .40 

Themistocles, 42 

Camillus, 45 

Pericles, 50 

Fabius Maximus, 56 

Alcibiades, 63 

Caius Marcius Coriolanus, . . . .67 

TlMOLEON, 70 

Paulus ^Emilius, 73 

Pelopidas, 77 

Marcellus, 79 

Aristides, o 84 

Cato, the Censor, 86 

Philopcemen, 90 

Titus Quinctius Flaminius, . . . .91 

Pyrrhus, 93 

Caius Marius, 98^ 

Lysander, 102 

Sylla 105 



"T V^VAI A 










PAGE 


ClMON, . IQ 8 


LuCULLUS, 










IO9 


NlCIAS, 










, Il8 


Marcus Crassus, 










123 


Sertorius, 










126 


EUMENES, 










. I30 


AGESrLAUS, 










133 


POMPEY, .... 










135 


Alexander, 










154 


Julius Caesar, 










HI 


Phocion, 










182 


Cato, the Younger, 










I83 


Agis, .... 










185 


Cleomenes, 










l86 


Tiberius Gracchus, 










ig2 


Caius Gracchus, 










194 


Demosthenes, . 










197 


Cicero, 










202 


Demetrius, 










208 


Antony, . 










211 


Dion, .... 










215 


Marcus Brutus, 








218 


Artaxerxes, 








, ' 220 


Aratus, . . . 








222 


Weights, Measures, and 


Money, . 




. 224 


Chronological Table, . 


. , 




. 225 


Index, . 


< 






< 


231 



INTRODUCTION. 



The name of Plutarch will be remembered 
through all ages to come. He was born at 
Chaeronea, in Boeotia, Greece, probably about 
a.d. 45 or 50, and studied philosophy under 
Ammonius at Delphi, at the time of Nero's 
visit to Greece, 66 a.d. Plutarch traveled ex- 
tensively in Italy, visited Egypt, and spent 
some time in Rome, where he lectured on 
philosophy. Returning to his native city, he 
held office as a magistrate and died at an ad- 
vanced age. He is known to have married, 
and was the father of at least five children, 
of whom two sons survived to manhood. 

This famous scholar wrote many works, 
there being sixty extant bearing his name 
and treating of various subjects. They were 
collected under the common title of Moralia 
and translated into English by several au- 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

thors. The work, however, which made him 
famous in antiquity, and afterward in all 
time, is his Parallel Lives, edited by C. Sin- 
tenis (4 volumes, Leipsic, 1639-53), and trans- 
lated into all European languages. It has 
been translated into English several times 
by North, under the name of Dryden, and by 
John and William Langhorne. The Dryden 
translation was revised and corrected by A. 
H. Clough. It consists of forty-six biogra- 
phies, divided into pairs — one from Greek and 
one from Roman history. 

The question naturally occurs as to why 
this work has exercised such a charm over 
young and old, educated and uneducated, 
through the past centuries, and why such 
charm has in no way diminished to-day. 
There are two causes: the subjects treated 
and their method of treatment. The sub- 
jects are men who in their lives were the 
workers-out of the destiny of their time, and 
who after they crumbled to dust became 
models in all the after ages for those who 
aspire to become great and to make their im- 
press upon human events. Plutarch attempts 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

no analyses of the genius of those men and of 
their influence, but with a quick outline of 
the political and historical stature of the 
man, he vivifies his character by a Series of 
personal traits which are as comprehensible 
to the uneducated as to the educated mind. 
While he is not a historian, he is always in- 
structive and entertaining, for he himself 
possessed comprehensive knowledge, was 
sympathetic with all that was great and good, 
and wielded a pen that never failed to charm 
because it was tipped with the fire of genius. 

Anything relating to this extraordinary 
genius is interesting. His wife was Ti- 
moxena, the daughter of Alexion. Late in 
life a daughter was born to them but died. 
How pathetic and lofty is the letter addressed 
to his wife upon learning of the death of this 
beloved child! 

" Plutarch to his wife, greeting : The mes- 
sengers you sent to announce our child's 
death apparently missed the road to Athens. 
I was told about my daughter on reaching 
Tanagra. Everything relating to the funeral 
I suppose to have been already performed ; 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

my desire is that all these arrangements may 
have been so made as will now and in the 
future be most consoling to yourself. If 
there is anything which you have wished to 
do and have omitted, awaiting my opinion, 
and which you think would be a relief to you, 
it shall be attended to, apart from all excess 
and superstition, which no one would like 
less than yourself. Only, my wife, let me 
hope, that you will maintain both me and 
yourself within the reasonable limits of grief. 
What our loss really amounts to, I know and 
estimate for myself. But should I find your 
grief excessive, my trouble on your account 
will be greater than on that of our loss. I 
am not a 'stock or stone,' as you, my partner 
in the care of our numerous children, every 
one of whom we have ourselves brought up 
at home, can testify. And this child, a 
daughter, born to your wishes after four 
sons, and affording me the opportunity of re- 
cording your name, I am well aware was a 
special object of affection." 

After referring to the sweet temper and 
loving ways of the child, the father says: 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

" Yet why should we forget the reasonings 
we have often addressed to others, and re- 
gard our present pain as obliterating and effac- 
ing our former joys?" The letter closes with 
expressions of his belief in the immortality 
of every human soul. 

A great man it may be said is great in 
small things. Plutarch was as attentive to 
his humbler as to his more important duties. 
Referring to Epaminondas as giving dignity 
to the office of chief scavenger, he says: 
" And I, too, for that matter, am often a jest 
to my neighbors, when they see me, as they 
frequently do, in public, occupied on very 
similar duties ; but the story told about An- 
tisthenes comes to my assistance. When 
some one expressed surprise at his carrying 
home some pickled fish from market in his 
own hands. 'It is, ' he answered, 'for ?nyself. ' 
Conversely, when I am reproached with 
standing by and watching while tiles are 
measured out, and stone and mortar brought 
up. This service, I say, is not for myse/f, it is 
for my country." 

It should be borne in mind that Plutarch's 



IO INTRODUCTION. 

Lives are biography, not history. In the 
words of Montaigne, " He is a philosopher 
that teaches us virtue. It was probably his 
purpose to show that the great men of his 
native land had no cause to fear comparison 
with those of proud Rome, which led him to 
give the biographies in pairs, one Greek and 
one Roman in each pair, but such a great 
man as Plutarch could not be partial or 
morally undignified. He condemned and 
commended with unerring judgment, and 
sought to bring back to the Romans a re- 
minder of the qualities which in their fore- 
fathers conquered the world, "and to indi- 
cate that oft-proven certainty that the loss of 
moral sanity must sooner or later entail 
political disintegration and national decay." 
It is a singular fact that the Lives were 
translated and printed in Latin more than a 
century before the appearance of the first 
printed edition of the original Greek works. 
Amyot, a French abbe, published a transla- 
tion in the reign of Henry II. of England, 
from which Sir T. North rendered it into 
English in the time of Queen Elizabeth. By 



INTRODUCTION. II 

careful research, Amyot made many correc- 
tions in the text. Dryden lent his name to a 
translation written by probably a score of 
different hands, with the inevitable result of 
" a motley work, full of errors, irregularities 
and inconsistencies." The appearance of the 
admirable translation by John and William 
Langhorne removed the necessity for any 
other. 

We have deemed it advisable to place at 
the head of each biography a summary of its 
salient points. Plutarch gave little attention 
to dates, and while it is impossible to recall 
the words of his captivating narratives, it is 
easy to fix in the mind the important and lead- 
ing facts in the career of those whose lives 
he relates. This will supply the historical 
data necessary to a complete understanding 
of the biography. 

The eulogies of Plutarch are immeasurable. 
King Henry IV. of France, upon being told 
that his wife was pleased with the perusal of 
Plutarch's Lives, wrote to her: "You could 
not have sent me tidings more agreeable. 
To love Plutarch is to love me, for he was 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

the instructor of my early years; and my 
good mother, to whom I owe so much, who 
watched over the formation of my character, 
and who was wont to say that she had no desire 
to see her son an illustrious ignoramus, put 
this book into my hands when I was little 
more than an infant at the breast. It has 
been my conscience, and has whispered in 
my ear many good suggestions and maxims 
for my conduct and the government of my 
affairs." 

Jean Jacques Rousseau affirmed that he 
never read Plutarch without profit ; Madame 
Roland referred to it as " the pasture of great 
souls," and Ralph Waldo Emerson made the 
prophecy that " Plutarch will be perpetually 
re-discovered from time to time, as long as 
books last." 

It is to be deplored that many of the writ- 
ings of this incomparable genius have disap- 
peared beyond recovery. " What a triology 
is lost to mankind in his Lives of Scipio, 
Epaminondas, and Pindar !" Not a scrap re- 
mains of his commentaries on Homer and 
Hesiod, nor of his essays and fables. 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

The learned Theodoras Gaza, of the Fif- 
teenth Century, uttered what is perhaps the 
most striking tribute ever rendered to the 
genius of Plutarch. Being asked that if 
learning were doomed to suffer general ship- 
wreck, and it was given him to choose the 
one author that should survive, he replied, 
"Give me Plutarch." 

Agathias, who flourished in the Sixth Cen- 
tury, is the author of the following epigram : 

" Chaeronean Plutarch, to thy deathless praise 
Does martial Rome this grateful statue raise, 
Because both Greece and she thy fame have shared, 
(Their heroes written, and their lives compared). 
But thou thyself couldst never write thy own; 
Their lives have parallels, but thine has none." 

E. S. E. 
July, 1895. 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

OF 

FAMOUS GREEKS AND ROMANS 



THESEUS. 



Note.— Theseus (Greek). About all that is known, 
in addition to the sketch given by Plutarch, of 
this famous king is that the facts occurred during 
the thirteenth century B.C. 

The mother of Theseus was ^Ethra, and in his 
youth he was committed to the care of Pittheus, 
his grandfather, governor of the small city of the 
Trcezenians. This man was reputed to be the 
possessor of wonderful knowledge and wisdom. 

In his youth, Theseus displayed great strength 
of body, undaunted courage, and quickness alike 
of force and understanding. On the road to 
Athens, he slew Periphates, near Epidaunis, and 
took away his club; killed Sinnis, often surnamed 
the Bender of Pines ; the Crommyonian Sow, 
called Phcea ; and Sciron, said to have been a 



1 6 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

notorious robber (though others claim he was a 
good man). There were many victims to the 
prowess of Theseus, who, despite his numerous 
valiant exploits, was guilty of flagrant crimes and 
immoralities. 

When Theseus arrived at manhood, he went to 
Delphi, as was the custom, to offer the first fruits 
of his hair to Apollo. He shaved, however, only 
the front part, as Homer tells us the Abantes did. 
Because of this, that kind of tonsure was called 
Theseis. The Abantes were a warlike people, who 
found that long hair was a disadvantage in close 
fighting, of which they were fond. It was for a 
similar reason that Alexander of Macedon ordered 
his troops to cut off their beards. 

Theseus was a relative of the great Hercules, 
whose marvelous exploits fired him to imitation. 
After the deeds that have been referred to, The- 
seus, hoping to make himself popular with the 
Athenians, left Athens to fight with the bull of 
Marathon, which had done much mischief to the 
inhabitants of Tetrapolis. He captured the bull 
and brought him alive to Athens, where he was 
sacrificed to the Delphinian Apollo. 

The next exploit of Theseus was against the 

Minotaur — 

"A mingled form, prodigious to behold, 
Half bull, half man." 

Ariadne, daughter of the King of Crete, had 
fallen in love with Theseus, and gave him great 
help in this famous encounter, by handing to him 
a sword and a long thread. The latter was un- 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 17 

wound, as he followed the devious turnings of the 
labyrinth to where the Minotaur sheltered him- 
self, and gave the necessary guidance to Theseus 
in making his way out again. He slew the Mino- 
taur, and carried away Ariadne with him. 

On his return from Crete, Theseus put in at 
Delos ; and having sacrificed to Apollo, and dedi- 
cated a statue to Venus, which he received from 
Ariadne, he joined the young men in a dance, 
which imitated the mazes and outlets of the laby- 
rinth, in which the Minotaur had sheltered him- 
self, and with all its varying movements per- 
formed in regular time. He also instituted games 
in Delos, where he originated the custom of giving 
a palm to the victors. 

Drawing near Attica, Theseus and the pilot 
were in such high spirits that they forgot to hoist 
the sail which was to be the signal to ^Egeus of 
their safety. He was so overcome with despair 
at their supposed death that he threw himself 
from the rock and was dashed to pieces. 

JEgeus being dead, Theseus undertook a stu- 
pendous work. He sent to consult the oracle 
of Delphi concerning the fortune of his new gov- 
ernment and city, and received this answer : 

14 Son of the Pitthean maid, 
To your town the terms and fates 
My father gives of many states. 
Be not anxious nor afraid; 
The bladder will not fail to swim 
On the waves that compass him." 

This was B.C. 1235. Theseus settled all the in- 
habitants of Attica in Athens, and made them one 

2 



1 8 plutarch's lives 

people in one city. He dissolved the corporations, 
councils, and courts of each particular town, and 
built one common Prytaneum and court hall. He 
resigned his kingly power, and organized the 
commonwealth under the auspices of the gods. 
He divided the people into noblemen, husband- 
men, and mechanics. To the nobility were as- 
signed the care of religion, the supplying of the 
city with magistrates, the expounding of the laws, 
and the interpretation of whatever related to the 
worship of the gods. 

The nobles excelled in dignity, the husbandmen 
in usefulness, and the artificers in number. The 
money was stamped with the image of an ox, 
whence came the expression of a thing being 
worth ten or a hundred oxen. 

Having conquered and annexed the country ad- 
joining Megara, Theseus set up the famed pillar 
in the isthmus, and inscribed it with two verses 
to distinguish the boundaries. That on the east 
side ran : 

11 This is not Peloponnesus, but Ionia;" 

and that on the west side was : 

44 This is Peloponnesus, not Ionia." 

Theseus instituted games in imitation of Her- 
cules, desirous that as the Greeks, in pursuance of 
that hero's appointment, celebrated the Olympic 
games in honor of Jupiter, so they should cele- 
brate the Isthmian in honor of Neptune. He next 
made war with the Amazons, and received their 
queen Antiope, as the reward of his valor. 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES 19 

There are many contradictions in the various 
accounts of Theseus. Herodotus thinks that 
among all the famous expeditions of those times, 
the only one in which this hero was engaged was 
in assisting the Lapithae against the Centaurs. 
Others claim that he attended Jason to Colchos, 
and Meleager in killing the boar, from which 
came the proverb — "Nothing without Theseus." 
It is admitted that he performed many amazing 
exploits, which gave rise to the saying, "This 
man is another Hercules. " 

Theseus aided Adrastus in recovering the bodies 
of those that fell before Thebes, by persuading 
the Thebans to a truce. Philochorus thinks this 
was the first truce ever known for burying the 
dead, though Hercules previous to this gave leave 
to his enemies to carry off their slain. 

Incited by Menestheus, the Athenians rose 
against Theseus, and while he was occupied in 
suppressing the sedition, the Tyndaridse declared 
war against him . Though Athens was thus placed 
in great danger, Menestheus persuaded the people 
to admit the Tyndaridae and to treat them hos- 
pitably, since they were warring against Theseus 
alone. 

Theseus was compelled to flee the country, and 
he applied for help to Lycomedes, king of the 
Scyrians. This monarch, either jealous of 
Theseus or anxious to oblige Menestheus, having 
led the hero to the highest cliffs of the country, 
on pretence of showing him his lands, threw him 
headlong from the rocks and killed him. An 



2 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

equally probable account is that Theseus slipped, 
while taking a walk, according to his custom, 
after supper. His death was disregarded, and 
Menestheus quietly possessed the kingdom of 
Athens, while the sons of Theseus attended Ele- 
phenor as private persons to the Trojan war. 

After the Median war, Phaedo being archon of 
Athens, the Athenians, consulting the oracle of 
Delphi, were commanded to gather together the 
bones of Theseus, and laying them in some hon- 
orable place, keep them as sacred in the city. It 
was hard to rind the remains, because of the sav- 
age temper of the people who inhabited the island. 
When, however, it was conquered by Cimon, he 
chanced to see an eagle pecking with his beak, 
and tearing up the earth with his talons. As if 
by inspiration, he knew this was the burial-place 
of Theseus. Digging there, he found the coffin of 
a man of more than ordinary size, with a brazen 
spear-head and a sword lying by it. All these 
were taken on board Cimon's galley and brought 
to Athens, where they were interred with great 
honor. 

ROMULUS. 

Note. — Romulus (Roman). Romulus is considered to 
be the mythical founder of ''imperial Rome," 
whose foundation was laid B.C. 753. 

Romulus was the traditional founder of Rome ; 
but from whom and for what cause the city 
obtained that name, historians are not agreed. 
The story goes that Romulus and his twin-brother 



plutarch's lives 21 



Remus were in their infancy thrown into the river 
Tiber, but were miraculously floated ashore and 
suckled by a she-wolf till they were found by a 
shepherd named Faustulus, who brought them up. 
The beauty and dignity of their persons, even in 
their childhood, promised a generous disposition, 
and as they grew up they both showed great cour- 
age and bravery. Grown to the state of manhood, 
they determined to build themselves a city ; but 
while they were intent upon building, a dispute 
soon arose about the place. Romulus having 
built a square, which he called Rome, would have 
the city there ; but Remus marked out a more 
secure situation on Mount Aventine, which, from 
him, was called Remonium. The dispute was 
referred to the decision of augury, the result being 
that Remus was highly incensed, and as Romulus 
was opening a ditch round the place where the 
walls were to be built, he ridiculed some parts of 
the work and obstructed others. At last, as he 
presumed to leap over it, some say he fell by the 
hands of Romulus, others by that of Celer, one of 
his companions. The day on which they began 
to build the city is allowed to be the 21st of April, 
b.c. 750. 

When the city was built Romulus divided the 
younger part of the inhabitants into battalions. 
Each corps consisted of three thousand foot and 
three hundred horse, and was called a Legion ; 
the rest of the multitude he called The People. 
A hundred of the most considerable citizens he 
took for his council, with the title of Patricians, 



22 plutarch's lives 

and the whole body was called the Senate. To 
obtain wives for his citizens he planned a capture 
of Sabine women as follows : — He appointed by 
proclamation a day for a splendid sacrifice, with 
public games and shows. Multitudes assembled, 
and Romulus himself presided. At a pre-arranged 
signal the Romans rushed in with their swords 
drawn, and seized the daughters of the Sabines, 
but quietly suffered the men to escape. The 
Sabines demanded their women back, but were 
refused, whereupon Acron declared war with 
Romulus ; but in single combat with Romulus he 
was killed, his army routed, and his city taken. 
On this occasion Romulus made a vow that if he 
conquered his enemy he would himself dedicate 
his adversary's arms to Jupiter. 

Romulus having considered how he should per- 
form his vow in the most acceptable manner to 
Jupiter, and withal make the procession most 
agreeable to his people, cut down a great oak 
that grew in the camp, and hewed it into the figure 
of a trophy; to this he fastened Acron's whole 
suit of armor, disposed in its proper form. Then 
he put on his own robes, and wearing a laurel 
crown on his head, his hair gracefully flowing, he 
took the trophy erect upon his right shoulder, and 
so marched on, singing the song of victory before 
his troops, who followed completely armed, while 
the citizens received him with joy and admiration. 
This procession was the origin and model of future 
triumphs. 

In a subsequent battle with the Sabines, while 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 23 

the conflict was at its height the ardor of the com- 
batants was repressed by an astonishing spectacle. 
The daughters of the Sabines, that had been forci- 
bly carried off, rushed with loud cries and lamen- 
tations, like persons distracted, amidst the drawn 
swords, and over the dead bodies, to come at their 
husbands and fathers, some carrying their infants 
in their arms, some darting forward with dishev- 
elled hair, but all calling by turns both upon the 
Sabines and Romans by the tenderest names. 
Both parties were extremely moved, and room 
was made for them between the two armies. 
Their lamentations pierced to the utmost ranks, 
and all were deeply affected, particularly when 
their upbraiding and complaints ended in suppli- 
cation and entreaty. 

After much negotiation peace was concluded, 
and the Sabines were incorporated with the 
Romans. Many honorable privileges, however, 
were conferred upon the women, some of which 
were these : That the men should give them the 
way wherever they met them ; that they should 
not mention an obscene word, nor act indecently 
before them ; that in case of their killing any per- 
son, they should not be tried before the ordinary 
judges ; and that their children should wear an 
ornament about their necks, called Bulla, from 
its likeness to a bubble, and a garment bordered 
with purple. 

After the wars Romulus behaved as almost all 
men do who rise by some great and unexpected 
good fortune to dignity and power ; for, exalted 



24 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

with his exploits, and loftier in his sentiments, 
he dropped his popular affability, and assumed 
the monarch to an odious degree. He gave the 
first offence by his dress ; his habit being a purple 
vest, over which he wore a robe bordered with 
purple. He gave audience in a chair of state. 
He had always about him a number of young men 
called Celeres, from their dispatch in doing busi- 
ness ; and before him went men with staves, called 
lictors, to keep off the populace, who also wore 
thongs of leather at their girdles, ready to bind 
directly any person he should order to be bound. 

Romulus disappeared in an unaccountable man- 
ner at the age of fifty-four, in the thirty-eighth 
year of his reign. 



LYCURGUS. 

Note. — Lycurgus (Spartan). This celebrated Spar- 
tan legislator, whose existence is doubted by some 
modern critics, is said to have lived in the ninth 
century b.c 

Of Lycurgus, the lawgiver, we have nothing 
to relate that is certain and uncontroverted. For 
there are different accounts of his birth, his trav- 
els, his death, and especially of the laws and 
form of government which he established. But 
least of all are the times agreed upon in which 
this great man lived. After reigning over the 
Spartans eight months he set sail for Crete, and 
while there he was struck with admiration of some 
of the Cretan laws, and he resolved at his return 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 25 

to make use of them in Sparta. From Crete Ly- 
curgus passed to Asia, desirous, as is said, to 
compare the Ionian expense and luxury with the 
Cretan frugality and hard diet, so as to judge 
what effect each had on their several manners 
and governments. There also, probably, he met 
with Homer's poems, which were preserved by 
the posterity of Cleophylus. Observing that many 
moral sentences and much political knowledge 
were intermixed with his stories, which had an 
irresistible charm, he collected them into one 
body, and transcribed them with pleasure, in 
order to take them home with him. For his glori- 
ous poetry was not yet fully known in Greece ; 
only some particular pieces were in a few 'hands, 
as they happen to be dispersed. Lycurgus was 
the first that made them generally known. 

Among the many new institutions of Lycurgus 
the first and most important was that of a senate ; 
which sharing, as Plato says, in the power of the 
kings, too imperious and unrestrained before, and 
having equal authority with them, was the means 
of keeping them within the bounds of moderation, 
and highly contributed to the preservation of the 
State ; for before it had been veering and unsettled, 
sometimes inclining to arbitrary power, and some- 
times toward a pure democracy ; but this estab- 
lishment of a senate, an intermediate body, like 
ballast, kept it in a just equilibrium, and put it in 
a safe posture. 

A second and bolder political enterprise of Ly- 
curgus was a division of the land. He made nine 



26 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

thousand lots for the territory of Sparta, which 
he distributed among so many citizens, and thirty 
thousand for the inhabitants of the rest of Laconia. 
Each lot was capable of producing, one year with 
another, seventy bushels of grain for each man, 
and twelve for each woman, besides a quantity of 
wine and oil in proportion. Such a provision they 
thought sufficient for health and a good habit of 
body, and they wanted nothing more. 

After this he attempted to divide also the mov- 
ables, in order to take away all appearance of in- 
equality ; but he soon perceived that they could 
not bear to have their goods directly taken from 
them, and therefore took another method, counter- 
working their avarice by a stratagem. First, he 
stopped the currency of the gold and silver coin, 
and ordered that they should make use of iron 
money only ; then to a great quantity and weight 
of this he assigned but a very small value ; so that 
to lay up ten minae a whole room was required, 
and to remove it nothing less than a yoke of oxen. 
When this became current many kinds of injustice 
ceased in Lacedsemon. Who would steal or take 
a bribe, who would defraud or rob, when he could 
not conceal the booty, when he could neither be 
dignified by the possession of it, nor, if cut in 
pieces, be served by its use? 

Desirous to complete the conquest of luxury and 
to exterminate the love of riches, he introduced a 
third institution, which was wisely enough and 
ingeniously contrived. This w as the use of public 
tables, where all were to eat in common of the 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 27 

same meat, and such kinds of it as were appointed 
by law. 

The rich were more offended with this regula- 
tion than with any other, and rising in a body they 
loudly expressed their indignation ; nay, they pro- 
ceeded so far as to assault Lycurgus with stones, 
and in the disturbance he had one of his eyes 
knocked out. Children also were introduced at 
these public tables, as so many schools of sobriety. 
There they heard discourses concerning govern- 
ment, and were instructed in the most liberal 
breeding. There they were allowed to jest with- 
out scurrility, and were not to take it ill when the 
raillery was returned. For it was reckoned worthy 
of a Lacedaemonian to bear a jest ; but if any one ' s 
patience failed, he had only to desire them to be 
quiet, and they left off immediately. When they 
first entered, the oldest man present pointed to 
the door, and said — " Not a word spoken in this 
company goes out there." 

• A third ordinance of Lycurgus was, that they 
should not often make war against the same 
enemy, lest, by being frequently put upon de- 
fending themselves, they too should become able 
warriors in their turn. 

As for the education of youth, which he 
looked upon as the greatest and most glorious 
work of a lawgiver, he began with it at the very 
source. He ordered the virgins to exercise them- 
selves in running, wrestling, and throwing quoits 
and darts ; that their bodies being strong and 
vigorous, their children might be the same. 



28 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

It was not left to the father to rear what chil- 
dren he pleased, but he was obliged to carry the 
child to a place called Lesche, to be examined by 
the most ancient men of the tribe, who were as- 
sembled there. If it was strong and well pro- 
portioned, they gave orders for its education, and 
assigned it one of the nine thousand shares of 
land; but if it was weakly and deformed, they 
ordered it to be thrown into the place called 
Apothetae, which is a deep cavern near the moun- 
tain Taygetus, concluding that its life could be 
no advantage either to itself or to the public, since 
Nature had not given it at first any strength or 
goodness of constitution. For the same reason, 
the women did not wash their new-born infants 
with water, but with wine, thus making some 
trial of their habit of body ; imagining that sickly 
and epileptic children sink and die under the ex- 
periment, while the healthy become more vigorous 
and hardy. 

As for learning, they had just what was abso- 
lutely necessary. They wrote to be read, and 
spoke to be understood. They were very spare 
in their diet, so that they might grow tall. For 
when the animal spirits are not too much op- 
pressed by a great quantity of food, which 
stretches itself out in breadth and thickness, they 
mount upwards by their natural lightness, and 
the body easily and freely shoots up in height. 
This also contributes to make them handsome ; 
for thin and slender habits yield more freely to 
Nature, which then gives a fine proportion to the 






PLUTARCH S LIVES 29 

limbs ; whilst the heavy and gross resist her by 
their weight. 

Lycurgus was short and sententious in his dis- 
course, if we may judge by some of his answers 
which are recorded ; that, for instance, concern- 
ing the constitution. When one advised him to 
establish a popular government in Lacedaemon, 
— "Go," said he, "and first make a trial of it in 
thy own family." That again, concerning sacri- 
fices to the deity, when he was asked why he ap- 
pointed them so trifling, and of so little value?— 
"That we may never be in want," said he, "of 
something to offer him." The Spartans hated 
long speeches. Even when they indulged a vein 
of pleasantry, one might perceive that they 
would not use one unnecessary word, nor let an 
expression escape them that had not some sense 
worth attending to. For one being asked to go 
and hear a person who imitated the nightingale to 
perfection, answered— "I have heard the nightin- 
gale herself." Nor were poetry and music less 
cultivated among them than a concise dignity of 
expression. Their songs had a spirit which could 
rouse the soul, and impel it in an enthusiastic 
manner to action. The language was plain and 
manly, the subject serious and moral. At the 
public games they relaxed the severity of their 
discipline, the men dressing their hair in curious 
fashions. They let their hair grow from their 
youth, but took more particular care, when they 
expected an action, to have it well combed and 
shining, remembering a saying of Lycurgus, that 



3<d plutarch's lives 

"a large head of hair made the handsome more 
graceful and the ugly more terrible. " 

Lawsuits were banished from Lacedaemon with 
money. The Spartans knew neither riches nor 
poverty, but possessed an equal competency, and 
had a cheap and easy way of supplying their few 
wants. 

Their discourse seldom turned upon money or 
business or trade, but upon the praise of the ex- 
cellent or the contempt of the worthless ; and the 
last was expressed with that pleasantry and hu- 
mor which conveyed instruction and correction 
without seeming to intend it. Nor was Lycurgus 
himself immoderately severe in his manner ; for 
he dedicated a little statue to the god of laughter 
in each hall. He considered facetiousness as a 
seasoning of their hard exercise and diet, and 
therefore ordered it to take place on all proper 
occasions, in their common entertainments and 
parties of pleasure. Upon the whole, he taught 
his citizens to think nothing more disagreeable 
than to live by (or for ) themselves. Like bees, 
they acted with one impulse for the general good, 
and always assembled about their prince. They 
were possessed with a thirst of honor, an enthusi- 
asm bordering upon insanity, and had not a wish 
but for their country. 

Lycurgus likewise made good regulations with 
respect to burials. In the first place, to take 
away all superstition, he ordered the dead to be 
buried in the city, and even permitted their mon- 
uments to be erected near the temples ; accustom- 



plutarch's lives 31 

ing the youth to such sights from their infancy, 
that they might have no uneasiness from them, 
nor any horror for death, as if people were pol- 
luted with the touch of a dead body, or with 
treading upon a grave. In the next place, he 
suffered nothing to be buried with the corpse ex- 
cept the red cloth and the olive leaves in which it 
was wrapped. Nor would he suffer the relations 
to inscribe any names upon the tombs, except of 
those men that fell in battle, or those women who 
died in some sacred office. He fixed eleven days 
for the time of mourning ; on the twelfth they 
were to put an end to it, after offering sacrifice to 
Ceres. No part of life was left vacant and unim- 
proved ; but even with their necessary actions he 
interwove the praise of virtue and the contempt 
of vice ; and he so filled the city with living ex- 
amples that it was next to impossible for persons 
who had these from their infancy before their eyes 
not to be drawn and formed to honor. Lycurgus 
is reported to have starved himself to death. 

NUMA. 

Note.— Numa (Roman). Numa Pompilius was the 
second mythical king of Rome, and, according to 
legend, was elected after the death of Romulus. 
He flourished in the eighth century B.C., and 
reigned some forty years. About b.c 180, a 
pretended discovery was made of the sacred books 
of Numa. 

Numa was born at Cures, a city of the Sabines, 
from which the Romans, together with the incor- 
porated Sabines, took the name of Quirites. He 



32 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

was the son of a person of distinction, named 
Pomponius. It seemed to be by the direction of 
the gods that he was born on the 21st of April, 
the same day that Rome was founded by Rom- 
ulus. His mind was naturally disposed to vir- 
tue ; and he still further subdued it by discipline, 
patience, and philosophy ; not only purging it of 
the grosser passions, but even of that ambition 
and rapaciousness which was reckoned honorable 
amongst the barbarians — persuaded that true for- 
titude consists in the conquest of appetites by 
reason. On this account he banished all luxury 
and splendor from his house ; and both citizens 
and strangers found him a faithful counselor and 
an upright judge. As for his hours of leisure, he 
spent them not in the pursuits of pleasure, or 
schemes of profit, but in the worship of the gods, 
and in rational inquiries into their nature and 
their power. 

At the age of forty Numa, on the death of Rom- 
ulus, was elected king ; but he declined the 
crown until he was persuaded by his father and 
Marcius to accept it. His first act of government 
was to discharge the body of three hundred men 
called Celeres, whom Romulus always kept about 
him as guards, for he neither chose to distrust 
those who put confidence in him, nor to reign 
over a people that could distrust him. To him 
is attributed the institution of that high order of 
priests called Pontifices, over which he is said to 
have presided himself. The Pontifex Maximus, 
or chief priest, had care not only of public sacri- 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 33 

fices, but even of private rites and offerings. To 
Numa also is ascribed the establishment of the 
Vestal Virgins and the whole sacrifice with re- 
spect to the perpetual fire which they watch con- 
tinually. If this light happens by accident to be 
put out, as the sacred lamp is said to have been 
at Athens under the tyranny of Ariston, at Delphi 
when the temple was burned by the Medes, and 
at Rome in the Mithridatic war, as also in the 
civil war (when not only was the fire extinguished 
but the altar overturned) , — the lamp is not lighted 
again from another fire, but new fire is gained by 
drawing a pure unpolluted flame from the sun- 
beams. They generally kindled it with concave 
vessels of brass formed by the conic section of a 
right-angled triangle, whose lines from the cir- 
cumference meet in one central point. This 
being placed against the sun causes the rays to 
converge in the center, which, by reflection, ac- 
quiring the force and activity of fire, rarefy the 
air, and immediately kindle such light and dry 
matter as they think fit to apply. 

Numa taught the Pontifices to look upon the 
last offices to the dead as no pollution. He like- 
wise fixed the time of mourning according to the 
different ages of the deceased. He allowed none 
for a child that died under three years of age ; 
and for one older the mourning was only to last 
as many months as he lived years, provided those 
were not more than ten. The longest mourning 
was not to continue above ten months, after which 
space widows were permitted to marry again. 
3 



34 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

No occupation implants so speedy and so ef- 
fectual a love of peace as a country life ; where 
there remains indeed courage and bravery suffi- 
cient to defend the property, the temptations to 
injustice and avarice are removed. Numa, there- 
fore, introduced among his subjects an attachment 
to husbandry as a charm of peace, and contriving 
a business for them which would rather form their 
manners to simplicity than raise them to opu- 
lence. He divided the country into several por- 
tions, which he called pagi or boroughs, and ap- 
pointed over each of them a governor or overseer. 
Sometimes also he inspected them himself; and, 
judging of the disposition of the people by the 
condition of their farms, some he advanced to 
posts of honor and trust ; and, on the other hand, 
he reprimanded and endeavored to reform the 
negligent and the idle. But the most admired of 
all his institutions is his distribution of the citi- 
zens into companies. 

This distribution was made according to the 
several arts or trades, of musicians, goldsmiths, 
masons, dyers, shoemakers, tanners, braziers, 
and potters. He collected the other artificers 
also into companies, who had their respective 
halls, courts, and religious ceremonies, peculiar 
to each society. By these means he first took 
away the distinction of Sabines and Romans, sub- 
jects of Tatius and subjects of Romulus, both 
name and thing ; the very separation into parts 
mixing and incorporating the whole together. 

He attempted the reformation of the calendar 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 35 

too, which he executed with some degree of skill, 
though not with absolute exactness. In the reign 
of Romulus it had neither measure nor order, 
some months consisting of fewer than twenty- 
days, while some were stretched to thirty-five, 
and others even to more. They had no idea of 
the difference between the annual course of the 
sun and that of the moon, and only laid down the 
proposition that the year consisted of 360 days. 
Numa, then, observing that there was a differ- 
ence of eleven days, 354 days making up the lu- 
nar year and 365 the solar, doubled those eleven 
days, and inserted them as an intercalary month 
after that of February every other year. He 
likewise altered the order of the months, making 
March third, which was first, and January and 
February first and second, which in the time of 
Romulus were eleventh and twelfth. Many, how- 
ever, assert that the two months of January and 
February were added by Numa, whereas before 
they had reckoned but ten months in the year. 
Of this we have a proof in the name of the last, 
for it is still called December or the tenth month ; 
and that March was the first is also evident, be- 
cause the fifth from it was called Quintilis, the 
sixth Sextilis, and so the rest in their order. If 
January and February had then been placed be- 
fore March, the month Quintilis would have been 
the fifth in name, but the seventh in reckoning. 
Besides, it is reasonable to conclude that the 
month of March, dedicated by Romulus to the 
god Mars, should stand first. Numa seems to 



36 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

have taken away the precedency from March, 
which is denominated from the god of war, with 
a design to show his preference of the political to 
the martial virtues. For Janus, in the most re- 
mote antiquity, being remarkable for his political 
abilities and his cultivation of society, reclaimed 
men from their rude and savage manners. He is 
therefore represented with two faces, as having 
altered the former state of the world, and given 
quite a new turn to life. He had also a temple at 
Rome with two gates, which it was customary to 
open in the time of war and to shut in time of 
peace. The latter was seldom the case till Numa's 
reign, when, however, it was not opened for one 
day, but stood constantly shut during the space 
of forty-three years. 

Numa wasted away insensibly with old age 
and a gentle decline, and was some few years 
above eighty when he died. 

SOLON. 

Note. — Solon (Greek). Solon, one of the seven 
sages of Greece, was born at Salamis in the 
seventh century b.c He was chosen archon, 
B.C. 594, and is supposed to have died at the age 
of 80, about b.c 558. 

Solon was a celebrated Grecian lawyer. His 
father, Execestides, having hurt his fortune by 
indulging his great and munificent spirit in assist- 
ing others, was ashamed himself to accept assist- 
ance, and Solon had to apply himself to merchan- 
dise. Some, however, say that he traveled 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 37 

rather to gratify his curiosity and extend his 
knowledge than to raise an estate. For he pro- 
fessed his love of wisdom, and, when far ad- 
vanced in years, made this declaration, — "I grow 
in learning as I grow in years." That he was 
not too much attached to wealth we may gather 
from the following lines : — 

11 The man that boasts of golden stores, 
Of grain that loads his bending floors, 
Of fields with fresh'ning herbage green, 
Where bounding steeds and herds are seen, 
I call not happier than the swain, 
Whose limbs are sound, whose food is plain, 
Whose joys a blooming wife endears, 
Whose hours a smiling offspring cheers." 

The profession of merchandise was honorable, 
as it brought home the produce of barbarous 
countries, engaged the friendship of kings, and 
opened a wide field of knowledge and experience. 
Nay, some merchants have been founders of 
great cities; Protus, for instance, who built Mar- 
seilles. Thales also, and Hippocrates, the math- 
ematician, are said to have had their share in 
commerce ; and the oil that Plato disposed of in 
Egypt defrayed the expense of his travels. 

It was a saying of Solon that "absolute mon- 
archy is a fair field, but it has no outlet. " 

The first of his public acts was that debts 
should be forgiven, and that no man for the fu- 
ture should take the body of his debtor for secur- 
ity ; and some friends of his who knew of his 
intention, taking advantage of the secret before 



38 plutarch's lives 

the decree took place, borrowed large sums of the 
rich and purchased estates with them. After- 
wards, when the decree was published, they kept 
their possessions, without paying the money they 
had taken up ; which brought great reflections 
upon Solon, as if he had not been imposed upon 
with the rest, but were rather an accomplice in 
the fraud. This charge, however, was soon re- 
moved by his being the first to comply with the 
law, and remitting a debt which he had out at 
interest. But his friends went by the name of 
Chreocopidae, or debt-cutters, ever after. 

He repealed the laws of Draco, except those 
concerning murder, because of the severity of 
the punishments they appointed, which for almost 
all offenses were capital. Even those that were 
convicted of idleness were to suffer death, and 
such as stole only a few apples or pot-herbs were 
to be punished in the same manner as sacrile- 
gious persons and murderers. Hence the saying 
that " Draco wrote his laws, not with ink but with 
blood." 

He established the council of the Areopagus, 
which was to consist of such as had borne the 
office of archon, and himself was one of the num- 
ber. But observing that the people, now dis- 
charged from their debts, grew insolent and im- 
perious, he proceeded to constitute another council 
or senate of four hundred, a hundred out of each 
tribe, by whom all affairs were to be previouslj* 
considered ; and ordered that, without their ap- 
probation, no matter should be laid before the 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 39 

general assembly. In the mean time, the high 
court of the Areopagus were to be the inspectors 
and guardians of the laws. 

Solon's law is justly commended which forbids 
men to speak ill of the dead. His law concerning 
wills has likewise its merit, for he gave every 
man the full and free disposal of his own. 

He regulated, moreover, the journeys of women, 
their mournings and sacrifices, and endeavored 
to keep them clear of all disorder and excess. 
They were not to go out of town with more than 
three habits ; the provisions they carried with 
them were not to exceed the value of an obolus ; 
their basket was not to be above a cubit high ; and 
in the night they were not to travel but in a car- 
riage, with a torch before them. At funerals they 
were forbidden to tear themselves, and no hired 
mourner was to utter lamentable notes, or to act 
in any way that tended to excite sorrow. He 
made a law that no son should be obliged to 
maintain his father if he had not taught him a 
trade. His regulations with respect to the plant- 
ing of trees were also very judicious. He that 
planted any tree in his field was to place it at 
least five feet from his neighbor's ground ; and if 
it was a fig-tree or an olive, nine ; for these ex- 
tend their roots further than others, and their 
neighborhood is prejudicial to some trees, not 
only as they take away the nourishment, but as 
their effluvia is noxious. He that would dig a pit 
or a ditch was to dig it as far from another man's 
ground as it was deep ; and if any one would raise 



4<3 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

stocks of bees, he was to place them three hun- 
dred feet from those already raised by another. 

These are some of the most noticeable of the 
laws of Solon. He made the Athenians take an 
oath to observe his laws for ioo years, but after 
an absence of ten years in Egypt he found his 
laws disregarded, and he retired to Cyprus, 
where he helped to build a city called Soli, and 
died at the age of 80 years. 

PUBLICOLA. 

Note. — Publicola (Roman). Valerius Publicola was 
one of the founders of the Roman republic, and 
flourished in the sixth century b.c. 

Publicola was so called by the Romans in ac- 
knowledgment of his merit. He was a son of 
Valerius, and was descended from that ancient 
Valerius who was the principal author of the 
union between the Romans and the Sabines. 
Our Valerius distinguished himself by his elo- 
quence and riches even while Rome was yet 
under kingly government. His eloquence he em- 
ployed with great propriety and spirit in defense 
of justice, and his riches in relieving the neces- 
sitous. Hence it was natural to conclude that if 
the government should become republican, his 
station in it would soon be one of the most emi- 
nent. 

The famous eulogium which he pronounced 
over the body of Brutus* gave rise to the custom 

* Lucius Junius Brutus (?iot Marcus Brutus). 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 41 

of funeral orations. The Romans were so much 
charmed with the speech that afterward all the 
great and illustrious men amongst them, upon 
their decease, had their encomium from persons 
of distinction. This funeral oration was more 
ancient than any amongst the Greeks, unless we 
allow that Anaximenes, the orator, relates that 
Solon was the author of this custom. 

Desirous to make his high office, as well as 
himself, rather agreeable than formidable to the 
people, he ordered the axes to be taken away 
from the rods, and that, whenever he went to the 
great assembly, the rods should be lowered in re- 
spect to the citizens, as if the supreme power were 
lodged in them ; a custom which the consuls ob- 
serve to this day. The people were not aware 
that by this he did not lessen his own power (as 
they imagined), but only by such an instance of 
moderation obviated and cut off all occasion of 
envy, and gained as much authority to his person 
as he seemed to take from his office ; for they all 
submitted to him with pleasure, and were so much 
charmed with his behavior that they gave him 
the name of Publicola, that is, the people's re- 
spectful friend. He not only acquired but em- 
ployed his riches honorably, for he was a gener- 
ous benefactor to the poor ; so that if Solon was 
the wisest, Publicola was the happiest of human- 
kind. 



42 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 



THEMISTOCLES. 

Note. — Themistocles (Greek). This statesman and 
general was born in the latter half of the sixth 
century B.C. His death (attributed by Plutarch 
to suicide by poison, though the account is 
doubted), occurred at Magnesia, Asia Minor, 
B.C. 470 or 472. 

Themistocles was an Athenian general. He had 
an early and violent inclination for public busi- 
ness, and was so strongly smitten with the love 
of glory, with an ambition of the highest station, 
that he involved himself in troublesome quarrels 
with persons of the first rank and influence in the 
State, particularly with Aristides, the son of Ly- 
simachus, who always opposed him. 

When Themistocles went to the Olympic games 
he endeavored to equal or exceed Cimon in the 
elegance of his table, the splendor of his pavil- 
ions, and other expenses of his train. These 
things, however, were not agreeable to the 
Greeks; they looked upon them as suitable to a 
young man of a noble family ; but when an ob- 
scure person set himself up so much above his 
fortune, he gained nothing by it but the imputa- 
tion of vanity. 

At length, having attained to a great height of 
power and popularity, his faction prevailed, and 
he procured the banishment of Aristides by what 
is called the Ostracism. 

Though the several engagements with the Per- 
sian fleet in the straits of Eubcea were not decis- 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES 43 

ive, yet they were of great advantage to the 
Greeks, who learned, by experience, that neither 
the number of ships, nor the beauty and splendor 
of their ornaments, .nor the vaunting shouts and 
songs of the barbarians, have anything dreadful 
in them to men that know how to fight hand to 
hand, and are determined to behave gallantly. 
These things they were taught to despise, when 
they came to close action, and grappled with the 
foe. In this case Pindar's sentiments appear 
just, when he says of the fight at Artemisium, — 

" 'Twas then that Athens the foundation laid 
Of Liberty's fair structure. " 

Indeed, intrepid courage is the commencement of 
victory. 

At the battle of Salamis, against Xerxes, King 
of Persia, Themistocles had charge of the fleet. 
He was happy in choosing a place for action, and 
no less so in taking advantage of a proper time 
for it. He would not engage the enemy till that 
time of day when a brisk wind usually rises from 
the sea, which occasions a high surf in the chan- 
nel. This was no inconvenience to the Grecian 
vessels, which were low built and well compacted ; 
but a very great one to the Persian ships, which 
had high sterns and lofty decks, and were heavy 
and unwieldy ; for it caused them to veer in such 
a manner that their sides were exposed to the 
Greeks, who attacked them furiously. During 
the whole engagement great attention was given 
to the motions of Themistocles. Ariamenes, the 



44 plutarch's lives 

Persian admiral, a man of distinguished honor, 
and by far the bravest of the king's brothers, di- 
rected his maneuvers chiefly against him. His 
ship was very tall, and from thence he threw 
darts, and shot forth arrows as from the walls of 
a castle. But Aminias the Decelean, and Sosi- 
cles the Pedian, who were both in one ship, bore 
down upon him with their prow, and both ships 
meeting they were fastened together by means of 
their brazen beaks ; when Ariamenes boarding 
their galley, they received him with their pikes, 
and pushed him into the sea. The first man that 
took a ship was an Athenian named Lycomedes, 
captain of a galley, who cut down the ensigns 
from the enemy's ship, and consecrated them to 
the laureled Apollo. As the Persians could come 
up in the straits but few at a time, and often put 
each other in confusion, the Greeks equaling 
them in the line, fought them till the evening, 
when they broke them entirely, and gained that 
signal and complete victory, than which no other 
naval achievement, either of the Greeks or bar- 
barians, ever was more glorious. 

Having returned from the wars, his next enter- 
prise was to rebuild and fortify Athens. After 
this he built and fortified the Piraeus (having ob- 
served the great convenience of that harbor) by 
which means he gave the city every maritime ac- 
commodation. In this respect his politics were 
very different from those of the ancient kings of 
Athens, who endeavored to draw the attention of 
their subjects from the business of navigation, so 



plutarch's lives 45 

that they might turn it entirely to the culture of 
the ground. 

Having given offense to the people, he was ban- 
ished by the Ostracism ; but this was nothing 
more than they had done to others whose power 
was become a burden to them, and who had risen 
above the quality which a commonwealth requires ; 
for the Ostracism, or ten years' banishment, was 
not so much intended to punish this or that great 
man, as to pacify and mitigate the fury of envy, 
that delights in the disgrace of superior charac- 
ters, and loses a part of its rancor by their fall. 

On the revolt of Egypt he was asked to take the 
direction of an expedition, but he declined, and 
soon afterwards destroyed himself, it is said, by 
drinking bull's blood. He was sixty-six years old 
when he died. Plato, the comedian (not the phil- 
osopher) , says of him, 

"Oft as the merchant speeds the passing sail, 
Thy tomb, Themistocles, he stops to hail; 
When hostile ships in martial combat meet, 
Thy shade, attending, hovers o'er the fleet." 

CAMILLUS. 

Note— Camillus (Roman). Camillus Marcus Furius, 
lived in the fourth century b.c Much that is 
related of him is fabulous. His son raised a 
rebellion in Dalmatia, during the reign of Claudius, 
but was abandoned by his soldiers and committed 
suicide. 

Among the many remarkable things related of 
Furius Camillus, the most extraordinary seems 
to be this, that though he was often in the high- 



46 plutarch's lives 

est commands, and performed the greatest ac- 
tions, though he was six times chosen dictator, 
though he triumphed four times, and was styled 
the second founder of Rome, yet he was never 
once consul. This was, however, because in his 
time military tribunes were appointed instead of 
consuls. There is upon record a very laudable 
act of his, that took place during his office. As 
the wars had made many widows, he obliged such 
of the men as lived single, partly by persuasion, 
and partly by threatening them with fines, to 
marry those widows. One of his most important 
exploits was the siege of Veii. Perceiving that it 
would be both difficult and dangerous to endeavor 
to take the city by assault; he ordered mines to be 
dug, the soil about it being easy to work, and ad- 
mitting of depth enough for the works to be car- 
ried on unseen by the enemy. As this succeeded 
to his wish, he made an assault without to call 
the enemy to the walls ; and in the mean time 
others of his soldiers made their way through the 
mines and secretly penetrated to Juno's temple in 
the citadel. 

The city thus taken by the Romans sword in 
hand, while they were busy in plundering it and 
carrying off its immense riches, Camillus behold- 
ing from the citadel what was done, at first burst 
into tears; and when those about him began to 
magnify his happiness at his success, he lifted up 
his hands toward heaven and uttered this prayer : 
— "Great Jupiter, and ye gods, that have the in- 
spection of our good and evil actions, ye know 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 47 

that the Romans, not without just cause, but in 
their own defense, and constrained by necessity, 
have made war against this city, and its unjust 
inhabitants. If we must have some misfortune 
in lieu of this success, I entreat that it may fall not 
upon Rome, or the Roman army, but upon my- 
self ; yet lay not, ye gods, a heavy hand upon me !" 
Whether it was that Camillus was elated with 
his great exploit in taking a city that was the 
rival of Rome, after it had been besieged ten 
years, or that he was misled by his flatterers, he 
took upon him too much state for a magistrate 
subject to the laws and usages of his country. 
For his triumph was conducted with excessive 
pomp, and he rode through Rome in a chariot 
drawn by four white horses, which no general 
ever did before or after him. Indeed, this sort of 
carriage is esteemed sacred, and is appropriated 
to the king and father of the gods. The citizens, 
therefore, considered this unusual appearance of 
grandeur as an insult to them. But the great- 
est and most manifest cause of their hatred was 
his behavior with respect to the tenths of the 
spoils. It seems he had made a vow, as he 
marched to Veii, that if he took the city he would 
consecrate the tenths to Apollo. But when the 
city was taken, and came to be pillaged, he was 
either unwilling to interrupt his men, or in the 
hurry had forgotten his vow. A charge of fraud 
with respect to these spoils was brought against 
him, and the people were much exasperated. At 
length he quitted the city, a voluntary exile. 



48 plutarch's lives 

While he was absent the Gauls, under Bren- 
nus, besieged Rome and defeated the Romans 
near the river Allia, and they were compelled to 
retire into the capitol or citadel. 

The third day after the battle Brennus arrived 
at the city with his army; and finding the gates 
opened and the walls destitute of guards, at first 
he had some apprehension of a stratagem or am- 
buscade, for he could not think the Romans had 
so entirely given themselves up to despair. But 
when he found it to be so in reality, he entered 
by the Colline gate, and took Rome, a little more 
than three hundred and sixty years after its foun- 
dation. 

Camillus was re-elected dictator, and marched 
at the head of an army to the relief of the capitol. 
Meantime, some of the barbarians employed in 
the siege, happening to pass by the place where 
Pontius had made his way by night up to the 
capitol, observed many traces of his feet and 
hands, as he had worked himself up to the rock. 
Of this they informed the king, who coming and 
viewing it, for the present said nothing ; but in 
the evening he assembled the lightest and most 
active of his men, who were the likeliest to climb 
any difficult height, and thus addressed them : — 
"The enemy have themselves shown us a way to 
reach them, which we were ignorant of, and have 
proved that this rock is neither inaccessible nor 
untrod by human feet. What a shame would it 
be then, after having made a beginning, not to 
finish ; and to quit the place as impregnable, when 



plutarch's lives 49 

the Romans themselves have taught us how to 
take it ? Where it was easy for one man to ascend, 
it cannot be difficult for many, one by one ; nay, 
should many attempt it together, they will find 
great advantage in assisting each other. In the 
mean time, I intend great rewards and honors for 
such as shall distinguish themselves on this oc- 
casion." 

The Gauls readily embraced the king's pro- 
posal ; and about midnight a number of them 
began to climb the rock in silence, which, though 
steep and craggy, proved more practicable than 
they expected. The foremost having gained the 
top, put themselves in order, and were ready to 
take possession of the wall, and to fall upon the 
guards, who were fast asleep ; for neither man 
nor dog perceived their coming. However, there 
were certain sacred geese kept near Juno's tem- 
ple, and at other times plentifully fed ; but at 
this time, as corn and the other provisions that 
remained were scarce sufficient for the men, they 
were neglected and in poor condition. Geese are 
naturally quick of hearing, and soon alarmed at 
any noise ; and as hunger kept them waking and 
uneasy, they immediately perceived the coming 
of the Gauls, and running at them with all the 
noise they could make, they awoke all the 
guards. The barbarians now perceiving they 
were discovered, advanced with loud shouts and 
great fury. The Romans in haste snatched up 
such weapons as came to hand, and acquitted 
themselves like men on this sudden emergency. 
4 



50 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

The Gauls were repulsed, and Camillus, coming 
up immediately with his army, defeated Brennus 
and entered Rome in triumph. A wonderful 
change took place in the minds of the people, who 
exhorted and encouraged each other to work, and 
they began to rebuild immediately, not in any 
order or upon a regular plan, but as inclination 
or convenience directed. By reason of this hurry 
the streets of Rome w T ere narrow and intricate, 
and the houses badly laid out ; for they tell us 
both the walls of the city and the streets were 
rebuilt within the compass of a year. 

Soon after Camillus had been appointed dic- 
tator the sixth time the Gauls again marched 
against Rome, and he defeated them near the 
river Anio. He died of the plague b.c. 365. 



PERICLES. 

Note.— Pericles (Athenian). Pericles was born of a 
noble and wealthy family. He was gifted with 
wonderful eloquence, and began to take part in 
public affairs abovit B.C. 469. He lost many 
of his friends and finally his favorite son Paralus, 
through the plague. Pericles was heart-broken 
and died after a lingering illness, b.c 429. 

This great Athenian general, statesman, and 
orator, was a son of Xanthippus and Agariste. His 
person was well formed, but his head was dispro- 
portionately long. For this reason almost all his 
statues have the head covered with a helmet, the 
statuaries choosing, I suppose, to hide that de- 
fect ; but the Athenian poets called him Schino- 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 5 I 

cephalus, or onion -head. And Teleclides says 
of him — - 

" Now, in a maze of thought he ruminates 
On strange expedients, while his head, depressed 
With its own weight, sinks on his knees; and now 
From the vast caverns of his brain burst forth 
Storms and fierce thunders." 

Damon, under the pretence of teaching him 
music, instructed him in politics, and he attended 
the lectures of Zeno on natural philosophy. But 
the philosopher witlv whom he was most inti- 
mately acquainted, who gave him that force and 
sublimity of sentiment superior to all the dema- 
gogues, was Anaxagoras. This was he whom the 
people of those times called "nous," or intelli- 
gence, either in admiration of his great under- 
standing and knowledge of the works of nature, 
or because he was the first who clearly proved 
that the universe owed its formation neither to 
chance nor necessity. 

Charmed with the company of this philosopher, 
and instructed by him in the sublimest sciences, 
Pericles acquired not only an elevation of senti- 
ment, and a loftiness and purity of style, far re- 
moved from the low expression of the vulgar, but 
likewise a gravity of countenance which relaxed 
not into laughter, a firm and even tone of voice, 
an easy deportment, and a decency of dress, 
which no vehemence of speaking ever put into 
disorder. These things, and others of the like 
nature, excited admiration in all who saw him. 

Anaxagoras also cured him of superstition, 



52 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

and taught him to be patient under injuries. His 
eloquence improved with his knowledge of phil- 
osophy, and from the force of it he was surnamed 
Olympias. The strokes of satire, both serious 
and ludicrous, in the comedies of those times, in- 
dicate that this title was given him chiefly on ac- 
count of his eloquence ; for they tell us that in his 
harangues he thundered and lightened, and that 
his tongue was armed with thunder. Thucydides 
is said to have given a pleasant account of the 
force of his eloquence. Thucydides was a great 
and respectable man, who, for a long time, op- 
posed the measures of Pericles ; and when Archi- 
damus, one of the kings of Lacedaemon, asked 
him, "Which was the best wrestler, Pericles or 
he?" he answered, "When I throw him he says he 
was never down, and he persuades the very spec- 
tators to believe so. " Yet such was the solicitude 
of Pericles, when he had to speak in public, that 
he always first addressed a prayer to the gods— 
"That not a word might unawares escape him un- 
suitable to the occasion." 

Thucydides represents the administration of 
Pericles as favoring aristocracy, and tells us that 
though the government was called democratical, 
it was really in the hands of one who had en- 
grossed the whole authority. Many other writers 
likewise inform us that by him the people were 
first indulged with a division of lands, were 
treated at the public expense with theatrical di- 
versions, and were paid for the most common 
services to the State. By the constructing of 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES 53 

great edifices, which required many arts and a 
long time to finish them, the mechanics had 
equal pretensions to be paid out of the treasury 
(though they stirred not out of the city) with the 
mariners and soldiers, guards and garrisons ; for 
the different materials, such as stone, brass, 
ivory, gold, ebony, and cypress, furnished em- 
ployment to carpenters, ' masons, braziers, gold- 
smiths, painters, turners, and other artificers. 
The conveyance of the materials by sea employed 
merchants and sailors, and by land wheelwrights, 
wagoners, carriers, ropemakers, leather- cutters, 
paviors, and iron founders. Every art had a num- 
ber of the lower people ranged in proper subordi- 
nation to execute it, like soldiers under the com- 
mand of a general, and thus, by the exercise of 
these different trades, plenty was diffused among 
persons of every rank and condition. Works 
were thus raised of an astonishing magnitude and 
inimitable beauty and perfection, every architect 
striving to surpass the magnificence of the design 
with the elegance of the execution ; yet still the 
most wonderful circumstance was the expedition 
with which they were completed. Many edifices, 
each of which seems to have required the labor of 
several successive ages, were finished during the 
administration of one prosperous man. 

Pericles was so proud of these buildings that, 
when the people complained of the cost, he 
offered to be at the whole expense himself, if 
he might be allowed to inscribe his own name 
on them. He was particularly attentive to his 



54 Plutarch's lives 

finances. He used to turn a whole year's produce 
into money altogether, and with this he bought, 
from day to day, all manner of necessaries at the 
market ; but this way of living was not agreeable 
to his sons when grown up, and the allowance he 
made the women did not appear to them a gener- 
ous one. They complained of a pittance daily 
measured out with scrupulous economy, which 
admitted of none of those superfluities so common 
in great houses and wealthy families, and they 
could not bear to think of the expenses being so 
nicely adjusted to the income. 

His chief merit in war was the safety of his 
measures. He never willingly engaged in any 
uncertain or very dangerous expedition, nor had 
any ambition to imitate those generals who are 
admired as great men because their rash enter- 
prises have been attended with success ; he al- 
ways told the Athenians "that as far as their fate 
depended upon him they should be immortal." 

Pericles, on his return to Athens after the re- 
duction of Samos, celebrated in a splendid man- 
ner the obsequies of his countrymen who fell in 
that war, and pronounced himself the funeral 
oration, usual on such occasions. This gained 
him great applause ; and when he came down 
from the rostrum the women paid their respects 
to him, and presented him with crowns and chap- 
lets, like a champion just returned victorious from 
the lists. 

Ion informs us that he was highly elated with 
this conquest, and scrupled not to say, "That 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 55 

Agamemnon spent ten years in reducing one of 
the cities of the barbarians, whereas he had taken 
the richest and most powerful city among the 
Ionians in nine months." 

During the first expedition of the Peloponnesian 
war Pericles showed his care for his soldiers by 
many careful maneuvers. As to those that were 
eager for an engagement and uneasy at his slow 
proceedings, he endeavored to bring them to rea- 
son by observing, "That trees when lopped will 
soon grow again, but when men are cut off the 
loss is not easily repaired. " On one occasion an 
eclipse of the sun threw his soldiers into the 
greatest consternation. Pericles was on board 
his galley, and observing that the pilot was much 
astonished and perplexed, took his cloak, and 
having covered his eyes with it, asked him, "If 
he found anything terrible in that, or considered 
it as a sad presage?" Upon his answering in the 
negative, he said, "Where is the difference then 
between this and the other, except that something 
bigger than my cloak causes the eclipse?" 

Pericles died of the plague, 429 B.C. When he 
was at the point of death, his surviving friends 
and the principal citizens sitting about his bed 
discoursed together concerning his extraordinary 
virtue, and the great authority he had enjoyed, 
and enumerated his various exploits and the num- 
ber of his victories ; for, while he was .commander- 
in-chief, he had erected no less than nine trophies 
to the honor of Athens. These things they talked 
of, supposing that he attended not to what they 



5 6 plutarch's lives 

said, but that his senses were gone. He took no- 
tice, however, of every word they had spoken, and 
thereupon delivered himself audibly as follows : — 
"I am surprised that while you dwell upon and 
extol these acts of mine, though fortune had her 
share in them, and many other generals have 
performed the like, you take no notice of the 
greatest and most honorable part of my character, 
namely, that no Athenian, through my means, 
ever put on mourning. " 



FABIUS MAXIMUS. 

Note. — Fabius Maximus {Roman). The Fabii were an 
illustrious Roman family divided into many 
branches. Fabius Maximus Verrucosus is consid- 
ered the greatest of the family. He wassurnamed 
" Cunctator," the temporizer, which art of war he 
exemplified successfully in the conflict he sustained 
with Hannibal. He died B.C. 203. 

The founder of the family of the Fabii, one of 
the most numerous and illustrious in Rome, was 
Fabius, a son of Hercules. Fabius Maximus, of 
whom we are writing, was the fourth in descent. 
He had the surname of Verrucosus, from a small 
wart on his upper lip. He was likewise called 
Ovicula, from the mildness and gravity of his be- 
havior when a boy. Nay, his composed demeanor, 
and his silence, his caution in engaging in the di- 
versions of the other boys, the slowness and diffi- 
culty with which he took up what was taught him, 
together with the submissive manner in which he 
complied with the proposals of his comrades, 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 57 

brought him under the suspicion of stupidity and 
foolishness with those who did not thoroughly 
know him. Yet a few there were who perceived 
that his composedness was owing to the solidity 
of his manner, and who discerned withal a mag- 
nanimity and lion-like courage in his nature. In 
a short time, when application to business drew 
him out, it was obvioris that his seeming inactiv- 
ity was a command which he had of his passions, 
that his cautiousness was prudence, and that that 
which had passed for heaviness and insensibility 
was really an immovable firmness of soul. He 
saw what an important concern the administra- 
tion was, and in what wars the republic was fre- 
quently engaged, and therefore by exercise pre- 
pared his body, considering its strength as a nat- 
ural armor. At the same time he improved his 
powers of persuasion, as the engines by which 
the people are to be moved. In his eloquence 
there was nothing of affectation, no empty plau- 
sible elegance, but it was full of that good sense 
which was peculiar to him, and had a sententious 
force and depth, said to have resembled that of 
Thucydides. 

Fabius Maximus was five times consul ; and in 
his first consulship was honored with a triumph 
for the victory he gained over the Ligurians, who, 
being defeated by him in a set battle, with the 
loss of a great number of men, were driven be- 
hind the Alps, and kept from such inroads and 
ravages as they used to make in the neighboring 
provinces. 



58 Plutarch's lives 

Hannibal having invaded Italy, and gained the 
battle of Trebia, advanced through Tuscany, lay- 
ing waste the country, and striking Rome itself 
with terror and astonishment. This desolation 
was announced by signs and prodigies, — some 
familiar to the Romans, as that of thunder for 
instance, and others equally strange and unac- 
countable. For it was said that certain shields 
sweated blood; that bloody corn was cut at An- 
tium ; that red-hot stones fell from the air ; that 
the Falerians saw the heavens open, and many 
billets fall, upon one of which these words were 
very legible, " Mars brandisheth his arms." Fa- 
bius paid but little regard to prodigies, as too 
absurd to be believed, notwithstanding the great 
effect they had upon the multitude. But being 
informed how small the numbers of the enemy 
were and of the want of money, he advised the 
Romans to have patience, — not to give battle to a 
man who led on an army hardened by many con- 
flicts for this very purpose, but to send succor to 
their allies, and to secure the towns that were in 
their possession, until the vigor of the enemy ex- 
pired of itself, like a flame for want of fuel. 

He could not, however, prevail upon Flaminius. 
That general declared he would never suffer the 
war to approach Rome ; nor, like Camillus of old, 
dispute within the walls who should be the master 
of the city. He therefore ordered the tribunes to 
draw out the forces, and mounted his horse, but 
was thrown headlong off, the horse, without any 
visible cause, being seized with a fright and trem- 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES 59 

bling ; yet he persisted in his resolution of march- 
ing out to meet Hannibal, and drew up his army 
near the lake called Thrasymenus in Tuscany. 

While the armies were engaged there happened 
an earthquake, which overturned whole cities, 
changed the course of rivers, and tore off the tops 
of mountains ; yet not one of the combatants was 
in the least sensible of that violent motion. 
Flaminius himself, having greatly signalized his 
strength and valor, fell, and with him the bravest 
of his troops. The rest being routed, a great 
carnage ensued ; full fifteen thousand were slain, 
and as many taken prisoners. 

Fabius was then chosen dictator, but instead of 
immediately giving battle to Hannibal he en- 
camped in the mountains and watched the enemy. 
When they rested he did the same, and when they 
were in motion he showed himself upon the height 
at such a distance as not to be compelled to fight, 
but yet near enough to keep the enemy in per- 
petual alarm . These apparently dilatory proceed- 
ings exposed Fabius to contempt, even in his own 
army. His opponents asked in derision, " Whether 
he intended to take his army up into heaven, as 
he had bidden adieu to the world below, or 
whether he would screen himself from the enemy 
with clouds and fogs?" When the dictator's 
friends brought him an account of this and sim- 
ilar aspersions, and exhorted him to wipe them 
off by risking a battle,— "In that case," said he, 
" 1 should be of a more dastardly spirit than they 
represent me, if, through fear of insults and re- 



60 Plutarch's lives 

proaches, I should depart from my own resolu- 
tion. But to fear for my country is not a disa- 
greeable fear. That man is unworthy of such a 
command as this who shrinks under calumnies 
and slanders, and complies with the humor of 
those whom he ought to govern, and whose folly 
and rashness it is his duty to restrain. " 

One of the stratagems of Hannibal during the 
maneuvring is singularly interesting. The con- 
trivance was this : he caused two thousand oxen, 
which he had in his camp, to have torches and 
dry bavins well fastened to their horns. These, in 
the night, upon a signal given, were to be lighted, 
and the oxen to be driven to the mountains, near 
the narrow pass that was guarded by Fabius. 
While those that had it in charge were thus em- 
ployed, he decamped, and marched slowly for- 
ward. So long as the fire was moderate, and 
burnt only the torches and bavins, the oxen 
moved softly on, as they were driven up the hills ; 
and the shepherds and herdsmen on the adjacent 
heights took them for an army that marched in 
order with lighted torches. But when the ani- 
mals' horns were burnt to the roots, and the fire 
pierced to the quick, terrified, and mad with pain, 
they no longer kept any certain route, but ran up 
the hills, with their foreheads and horns flaming, 
and setting everything on fire that came in their 
way. The Romans who guarded the pass were 
astonished ; for the oxen appeared to them like a 
great number of men running up and down with 
torches, which scattered fire on every side. In 



plutarch's lives 6i 

their fears, of course, they concluded that they 
should be attacked and surrounded by the enemy ; 
for which reason they quitted the pass, and fled 
to the main body in the camp. Immediately 
Hannibal's light-armed troops took possession of 
the outlet, and the rest of his forces marched 
safely through, loaded with a rich booty. 

The general in command of the Roman cavalry 
was named Minucius. He was very eager to bring 
on an engagement with Hannibal ; and, contrary 
to the orders of Fabius, he did so, and partly de- 
feated the enemy. This success so pleased the 
Romans that they elected Minucius dictator with 
Fabius, and it was proposed that the dictators 
should have the command of the army alternately ; 
but Fabius divided the forces, and gave the com- 
mand of one half to Minucius, who was soon 
drawn into an engagement by Hannibal, and de- 
feated. Fabius had expected the result, and was 
waiting at hand with his half of the army, and, 
advancing at the right moment, compelled Han 
nibal to retreat. 

After the battle, Fabius, having collected the 
spoils of such Carthaginians as were left dead 
upon the field, returned to his post ; nor did he 
let fall one haughty or angry word against his 
colleague. As for Minucius, having called his 
men together, he thus expressed himself : — 
" Friends and fellow-soldiers, not to err at all in the 
management of great affairs is above the wisdom 
of men ; but it is the part of a prudent and good 
man to learn, from his errors and miscarriages, 



62 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

to correct himself for the future. For my part, I 
confess that though fortune has frowned upon me 
a little, I have much to thank her for. For what 
I could not be brought to be sensible of in so 
long a time, I have learned in the small compass 
of one day, — that I know ot how to command, 
but have need to be under the direction of another. 
From this moment I bid adieu to the ambition of 
getting the better of a man whom it is an honor 
to be foiled by. In all other respects the dictator 
shall be your commander ; but in the due expres- 
sions of gratitude to him, I will be your leader 
still by being the first to show an example of obe- 
dience and submission." 

He then marched to the camp of Fabius, and 
thus addressed himself to the dictator: — "You 
have this day Fabius, obtained two victories, one 
over the enemy by your valor, the other over your 
colleague by your prudence and humanity. By 
the former you saved us, by the latter you have in- 
structed us ; and Hannibal's victory over us is not 
more disgraceful than yours is honorable and sal- 
utary to us. I call you ' Father, ' not knowing a 
more honorable name, and am more indebted to 
you than to my real father. To him I owe my 
being, but to you the preservation of my life, and 
the lives of all these brave men." 

Fabius Maximus did not live to hear of the 
overthrow of Hannibal, or to see the prosperity of 
his country re-established ; for about the time 
that Hannibal left Italy he fell sick and died. 
The expense of Fabius' funeral was not de- 



plutarch's lives 63 

frayed out of the Roman treasury, but every citi- 
zen contributed a small piece of money toward 
it ; not that he died without effects, but that the 
Romans might bury him as the father of the peo- 
ple, and that the honors paid him at his death 
might be suitable to the dignity of his life. 

ALCIBIADES. 

Note. — Alcibiades (Greek). Alcibiades was born 
about 450 B.C. and descended on both sides from 
the most illustrious families of his country. In- 
heriting great wealth, endowed with remarkable 
attractiveness of person and brilliant mental 
powers, he could not fail to become a potent fac- 
tor in the counsels and fortunes of Athens. The 
date and particulars of his death will be found in 
the sketch which follows. 

Alcibiades was descended from Ajax. His 
father was Clinias, who had gained great honor in 
the sea-fight of Artemisium, where he fought in a 
galley fitted out at his own expense. By reason 
of the natural vigor of his constitution, and by 
his happy disposition, he long retained his youth- 
ful beauty. 

He had a lisping in his speech, which became 
him, and gave a graceful and persuasive turn to 
his discourse. His manners were far from being 
uniform ; nor is it strange that they varied ac- 
cording to the many vicissitudes and wonderful 
turns of his fortune. He was naturally a man of 
strong passions ; but his ruling passion was an 
ambition to contend and overcome. This ap- 
pears from what is related of his sayings when 



64 Plutarch's lives 

B boy. When hard pressed in wrestling, to pre- 
vent his being thrown he bit the hands of his an- 
tagonist, who let go his hold, and said, "Alci- 

Les, yon bite like a woman." "No," said he, 
M like a lion." 

One day lie was playing at dice with other boys 
in the street; and when it came to his turn to 
throw, a i wagon came up. At first he 

B<3 to the driver to stop, because he was to 

w in the way over which the wagon was to 
pass. The rustic disregarding him and driving 

the other boys broke away ; but Alcibiades 
threw himself upon his face directly before the 
wagon, and stretching himself oat bade the fcl 
low drive on if he pleased. Upon this he was so 
startled that lie stopped his horses, while those 
who saw it ran up to him in terror. 

In the course of his education he willing 
the lessons o\ his other masters; but refused 

Ding to play upon the flute, which he looked 
upon as a mean art and unbecoming a gentle- 
man. 

"Playing upon the lyre. " he would say. "has 
nothing in it that disorders the features or form, 
but a man is hardly to be known by his most inti- 

o friends when he plays upon the flute. Be- 
sides, the lyre docs not hinder the performer from 
speaking or accompanying it with a song, where 
as the flute so i 5 the month and the breath 

that it leaves no possibility of speaking." 

Many persons oi rank made their court to Alci- 
biades. but it is evident that they wore charmed 



plutarch's lives 65 

and attracted by the beauty of his person. So- 
crates was the only one whose regards were fixed 
upon the mind, and bore witness to the young 
man's virtue and ingenuity, the rays of which he 
could distinguish through his fine form ; and fear- 
ing lest the pride of riches and high rank, and 
the crowd of flatterers, both Athenians and stran- 
gers, should corrupt him, he used his best en- 
deavors to prevent it, and took care that so hope- 
ful a plant should not lose its fruit and perish in 
the very flower. 

Alcibiades was fond of animals, and he was 
famed for his breed of horses and the number of 
his chariots ; for no one besides himself, whether 
private person or king, ever sent seven chariots at 
one time to the Olympic games. The first, the 
second, and the fourth prizes, according to Thu- 
cydides, or the third, as Euripides relates it, he 
bore away at once, which exceeds everything per- 
formed by the most ambitious in that way. Eurip- 
ides thus celebrates his success : — 

11 Great son of Clinias, I record thy glory, 

First on the dusty plain 

The threefold prize to gain; 
What hero boasts thy praise in Grecian story? 
Twice does the trumpet's voice proclaim 
Around the plausive cirque thy honor'd name : 

Twice on thy brow was seen 

The peaceful olive's green, 
The glorious palm of easy purchased fame." 

His prodigious liberality, the games he ex- 
hibited, and the other extraordinary instances of 
his munificence to the people, the glory of his an- 
5 



66 plutarch's lives 

cestors, the beauty of his person, and the force of 
his eloquence, together with his heroic strength, 
his valor, and experience in war, so gained upon 
the Athenians that they connived at his errors, 
and spoke of them with all imaginable tender- 
ness, calling them sallies of youth and good- 
humored frolics. 

Notwithstanding his popularity and success as 
a soldier, his enemies found cause of complaint. 
The information against him ran thus :— -"Thes- 
salus, the son of Cimon, of the ward of Lacias, 
accuseth Alcibiades, the son of Clinias, of the 
ward of Scambonis, of sacrilegiously offending the 
goddesses Ceres and Proserpine by counterfeit- 
ing their mysteries, and showing them to his 
companions in his own house. Wearing such a 
robe as the high-priest does while he shows the 
holy things, he called himself high-priest, as he 
did Polytion, torch-bearer, and Theodorus of the 
ward of Phygea, herald ; and the rest of his com- 
panions he called persons initiated and brethren 
of the secret ; herein acting contrary to the rules 
and ceremonies established by the Eumolpidse, 
the heralds and priests at Eleusis. " As he did 
not appear they condemned him, confiscated his 
goods, and ordered all the priests and priestesses 
to pronounce an execration against him. 

He regained his popularity, and after many 
creditable military exploits he was defeated by 
Lysander, who destroyed the Athenian fleet and 
took the city of Athens. He established there 
the "thirty tyrants," one of whom, Critias by 



plutarch's lives 67 

name, exhorted Lysander to have Alcibiades 
killed. Those who were sent to assassinate him, 
not daring to enter his house, surrounded it and 
set it on fire. As soon as he perceived it he got 
together large quantities of clothes and hangings, 
and threw them upon the fire to choke it ; then 
having wrapped his robe about his left hand, and 
taking his sword in his right, he sallied through 
the fire, and got safe out before the stuff which 
he had thrown upon it could catch fire. At sight 
of him the barbarians dispersed, not one of them 
daring to wait for him, or to encounter him hand 
to hand ; but, standing at a distance, they pierced 
him with their darts and arrows. Thus fell Alci- 
biades, at the age of forty-six, in the year B.C. 
404. 

CAIUS MARCIUS CORIOLANUS. 

Note. — Caius Marcius Coriolanus (Roman). Caius 
Marcius was a famous legendary hero of Rome. 
His banishment was decreed in 491 b.c. Tradi- 
tions differ as to his death. It is claimed by some 
that he was assassinated, while others assert that 
he lived to an old age among the Volscians. 

Caius Marcius was brought up by his mother in 
her widowhood. The loss of a father, though at- 
tended with other disadvantages, is shown by him 
to be no hindrance to a man's improving in virtue 
and attaining to a distinguished excellence, though 
bad men sometimes allege it as an excuse for 
their corrupt lives. His undaunted courage and 
firmness of mind excited him to many great ac- 



68 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

tions, and carried him through them with honor ; 
but, at the same time, the violence of his pas- 
sions, his spirit of contention, and excessive ob- 
stinacy, rendered him untractable and disagree- 
able in conversation ; so that those very persons 
who saw with admiration his soul unshaken with 
pleasures, toils, and riches, and allowed him to 
be possessed of the virtues of temperance, justice, 
and fortitude, yet, in the councils and affairs of 
State, could not endure his imperious temper and 
that savage manner which was too haughty for 
a republic. Indeed, there is no other advantage 
to be had from a liberal education equal to that of 
polishing and softening our nature by reason and 
discipline ; for that produces an evenness of be- 
havior, and banishes from our manners all ex- 
tremes. 

The Romans at that time were engaged in sev- 
eral wars, and fought many battles, and there 
was not one that Marcius returned from without 
some honorary crown, some ennobling distinction. 
The end which others proposed in their acts of 
valor was glory ; but he pursued glory because the 
acquisition of it delighted his mother ; for when 
she was witness to the applauses he received, 
when she saw him crowned, when she embraced 
him with tears of joy, then it was that he reck- 
oned himself at the height of honor and felicity. 

He was called Coriolanus for his gallant be- 
havior at Corioli. Soon afterward Marcius stood 
for the consulship. It was the custom for those 
who were candidates for such a high office to so- 



plutarch's lives 69 

licit and caress the people in the forum, and at 
those times to be clad in a loose gown without the 
tunic. That humble dress was thought more 
suitable for suppliants, and it was convenient for 
showing their wounds, as so many tokens of 
valor. It was not from any suspicion the citizens 
then had of bribery that they required the candi- 
dates to appear before them ungirt, and without 
any close garment, when they came to beg their 
votes ; since it was much later than this, and in- 
deed many ages after, that buying and selling stole 
in, and money came to be a means of gaining an 
election. Then, corruption reaching also the 
tribunals and the camps, arms were subdued by 
money, and the commonwealth was changed into 
a monarchy. It was a shrewd saying, whoever 
said it, "That the man who first ruined the 
Roman people was he who first gave them treats 
and gratuities. " 

When, therefore, Marcius showed the wounds 
and scars he had received in the many glorious 
battles he had fought for seventeen years succes- 
sively, the people were struck with reverence for 
his virtue, and agreed to choose him consul. But 
when the day of election came the common people 
altered their minds, their kindness was turned to 
envy and indignation, and they rejected Marcius. 
Ultimately he was tried for "treason against the 
commonwealtn, in designing to set himself up as 
a tyrant," and being condemned by a majority of 
three tribes he was doomed to perpetual banish- 
ment. 



70 Plutarch's lives 

The pride of Coriolanus would not permit him 
to make his court to those who were capable of 
conferring honors upon him ; and at the same 
time his ambition rilled him with regret and in- 
dignation when they passed him by. This," then, 
is the blamable part of his character ; all the rest 
is great and glorious. In point of temperance 
and disregard of riches he is fit to be compared 
with the most illustrious examples of integrity in 
Greece. 

TIMOLEON. 

Note. — Timoleon (Greek). Timoleon was a general 
and statesman. With the assistance of his brother 
Satyrus, he slew his elder brother Timophanes, who 
aimed at the sovereign power. He died at Syra- 
cuse 337 b.c. 

This celebrated Corinthian was of a noble 
family. His father was Timodemus, and his 
mother Demariste. His love of his country was 
remarkable, and so was the mildness of his dis- 
position, saving that he bore an extreme hatred 
to tyrants and wicked men. His natural abili- 
ties for war were so happily tempered, that, as 
an extraordinary prudence was seen in the enter- 
prises of his younger years, so an undaunted 
courage distinguished his declining age. 

Timoleon 's most celebrated military exploit 
was the expedition against Syracuse. Scarce 
three thousand out of ten times that number took 
up arms, and ventured to follow Timoleon. The 
mercenaries were in number four thousand, and 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES Jl 

of them about a thousand gave way to their fears 
when upon the march, and turned back, saying, 
that "Timoleon must be mad, or in his dotage, to 
go against an army of seventy thousand men with 
only five thousand foot and a thousand horse ; and 
to draw his handful of men, too, eight days' march 
from Syracuse, by which means there could be no 
refuge for those that fled, nor burial for those 
that fell in battle." 

Timoleon considered it as an advantage that 
these cowards discovered themselves before the 
engagement ; and having encouraged the rest, he 
led them hastily to the banks of the Crimesus, 
where he was told the Carthaginians were drawn 
together. But as he was ascending a hill, at the 
top of which the enemy's camp and all their vast 
forces would be in sight, he met some mules 
loaded with parsley ; and his men took it into 
their heads that it was a bad omen, because the 
sepulchers are usually crowned with parsley ; and 
thence the proverb with respect to one that is 
dangerously ill, "Such a one has need of nothing 
but parsley." To deliver them from this super- 
stition, and to remove the panic, Timoleon ordered 
the troops to halt, and making a speech suitable 
to the occasion, observed, among other things, 
"That crowns were brought them before the vic- 
tory, and offered themselves of their own accord;" 
for the Corinthians, from all antiquity, having 
looked upon a wreath of parsley as sacred, crowned 
the victors with it at the Isthmian games. 

He ascribed all his successes to fortune; he 



72 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

often said he was highly indebted to that god- 
dess. In his house he built a chapel, and offered 
sacrifices to Chance, and dedicated the house it- 
self to Fortune ; for the Syracusans had given him 
one of the best houses in the city, as a reward for 
his services, and provided him, besides, a very 
elegant and agreeable retreat in the country. 
There it was that he spent most of his time, with 
his wife and children, whom he had sent for from 
Corinth ; for he never returned home. He took 
no part in the troubles of Greece, nor exposed 
himself to public envy — the rock which great gen- 
erals commonly split upon in their insatiable pur- 
suit of honor and power; but he remained in 
Sicily, enjoying the blessings he had established, 
and of which the greatest of all was to see so many 
cities and so many thousands of people happy 
through his means. 

He died at a good age, and was honored with a 
public funeral, being described in the funeral ora- 
tion as "the man who had destroyed tyrants, sub- 
dued barbarians, re-peopled great cities which 
had lain desolate, and who had restored to the 
Sicilians their laws and privileges. " 



plutarch's lives 73 



PAULUS ^EMILIUS. 

Note.— Paulus ^Emilius (Roman). This Roman gen- 
eral belonged to a noble family. At the age of 
forty-six he held the office of consul and was sixty 
years old when he accepted the command of the 
armies sent against Perseus, king of Macedon. He 
afterward served as censor. He was born 228 
b.c, and died universally regretted, at the age of 
sixty- eight. 

Paulus iEMiLius was so named from the 
peculiar charm and gracefulness of his elocution. 
He was supposed to be a descendant of Numa. 

It was the custom for those that were appointed 
to the consulship to make their acknowledgments 
to the people in an agreeable speech from the ros- 
trum. ^Emilius, having assembled the citizens on 
this occasion, told them, — "He had applied for 
his former Consulship because he wanted a com- 
mand ; but this time they had applied to him, be- 
cause they wanted a commander; and, therefore, 
at present he did not hold himself obliged to 
them. If they could have the war better directed 
by another, he would readily quit the employ- 
ment ; but if they placed their confidence in him, 
he expected they would not interfere with his or- 
ders, or propagate idle reports, but provide in si- 
lence what was necessary for the war , for if they 
wanted to command their commanders their ex- 
peditions would be more ridiculous than ever. " 
It is not easy to express how much reverence this 
speech procured him from the citizens, and what 
high expectations it produced. They rejoiced 



74 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

that they had passed by the smooth-tongued can- 
didates, and made choice of a general who had 
so much freedom of speech and such dignity of 
manner. 

Paulus ^Emilius by good generalship defeated 
Perseus, king of Macedonia, who was taken pris- 
oner. For this success at the battle of Pydna 
^Emilius was voted a triumph, which was carried 
out after this manner : — In every theater, or cir- 
cus, as they called it, where equestrian games 
used to be held, in the forum, and other parts of 
the city, which were convenient for seeing the 
procession, the people erected scaffolds, and on 
the day of the triumph were all dressed in white. 
The temples were set open, adorned with gar- 
lands, and smoking with incense. Many lictors 
and other officers compelled the disorderly crowd 
to make way, and opened a clear passage. The 
triumph took up three days. On the first were 
exhibited the images, paintings, and colossal 
statues taken from the enemy, and carried in two 
hundred and fifty chariots. Next day the richest 
and most beautiful of the Macedonian arms were 
brought up in a great number of wagons. These 
glittered with new furbished brass and polished 
steel ; and though they were piled with great art 
and judgment, yet seemed to be thrown together 
promiscuously ; helmets being placed upon shields, 
breast-plates upon greaves, Cretan targets, 
Thracian bucklers, and quivers of arrows, hud- 
dled among the horses' bits, with the points of 
naked swords and long pikes appearing through 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 75 

on every side. All these arms were tied together 
with such a just liberty, that room was left for 
them to clatter as they were drawn along, and the 
clank of them was so harsh and terrible, that they 
were not seen without dread, though among the 
spoils of the conquered. After the carriages 
loaded with arms, walked three thousand men. 
who carried the silver money in seven hundred 
and fifty vessels, each of which contained three 
talents, and was borne by four men. Others 
brought bowls, horns, goblets, and cups, all of 
silver, disposed in such order as would make the 
best show, and valuable not only for their size 
but the depth of the basso-relievo. On the third 
day, early in the morning, first came up the 
trumpets, not with such airs as are used in a pro- 
cession of solemn entry, but with such as the Ro- 
mans sound when they animate their troops to the 
charge. These were followed by a hundred and 
twenty fat oxen, with their horns gilded, and set off 
with ribbons and garlands. The young men who 
led these victims were girded with belts of curious 
workmanship ; and after them came the boys who 
carried the gold and silver vessels for the sacri- 
fice. Next the persons who carried the gold coin, 
in vessels which held three talents each, like those 
that contained the silver, and which were to the 
number of seventy-seven. Then followed those 
that bore the consecrated bowl, of ten talents 
weight, which ^Emilius had caused to be made of 
gold, and adorned with precious stones ; and 
those that exposed to view the cups of Antigonus 



76 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

of Seleucus, and such as were of the make of the 
famed artist Shericles, together with the gold 
plate that had been used at Perseus' table. Im- 
mediately after was to be seen the chariot of that 
prince, with his armor upon it, and his diadem 
upon that ; at a little distance his children were 
led captive, attended by a great number of gover- 
nors," masters, and preceptors, all in tears, who 
stretched out their hands by way of supplication 
to the spectators, and taught the children to do 
the same. There were two sons and one daugh- 
ter, all too young to be much affected with the 
greatness of their misfortunes. This insensibility 
of theirs made the change of their condition more 
pitiable ; in so much that Perseus passed on al- 
most without notice. So fixed were the eyes of 
the Romans upon the children, from pity of their 
fate, that many of them shed tears, and till they 
were gone by none tasted the joy of the triumph 
without a mixture of pain. Behind the children 
and their train walked Perseus himself, clad all 
in black, and wearing sandals of the fashion of 
his country. He had the appearance of a man 
who was overwhelmed with terror, and whose 
reason was almost staggered with the weight of 
his misfortunes. He was followed by a great 
number of friends and favorites, whose counte- 
nances were oppressed with sorrow, and who, by 
fixing their weeping eyes continually upon their 
prince, testified to the spectators that it was his 
lot which they lamented, and that they were re- 
gardless of their own. Next were carried four 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 77 

hundred coronets of gold, which the cities had 
sent ^Emilius, along with their embassies, as 
compliments on his victory. Then came the Con- 
sul himself, riding in a magnificent chariot — a 
man, exclusive of the pomp of power, worthy to 
be seen and admired ; but his good mien was now 
set off with a purple robe interwoven with gold, 
and he held a branch of laurel in his right hand. 
The whole army likewise carried boughs of lau- 
rel, and divided into bands and companies, fol- 
lowed the general's chariot. Some sang satirical 
songs usual on such occasions, and some chanted 
odes of victory. 

He died b.c. 160, having attained to every- 
thing that is supposed to contribute to the. hap- 
piness of man. 



PELOPIDAS. 

Note. — Pelopidas (Theban). After the return of 
Pelopidas as ambassador to the court of Persia, he 
assumed command of the forces sent to the relief 
of Thessaly, and, as stated by Plutarch, was slain 
in battle B.C. 364. 

Pelopidas, the son of Hippoclus, was of an illus- 
trious family of Thebes. Brought up in affluence, 
and coming in his youth to a great estate, he ap- 
plied himself to relieve such necessitous persons 
as deserved his bounty, to show that he was really 
master, not the slave, of his riches. 

Pelopidas married into a noble family, and had 
several children ; but setting no greater value 



78 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

upon money than before, and devoting all his 
time to the concerns of the commonwealth, he 
impaired his substance ; and when his friends ad- 
monished him, that money, which he neglected, 
was a very necessary thing, — "It is necessary, 
indeed, " said he, " for Nicodemus, there, " pointing 
to a man that w T as both lame and blind. 

Epaminondas and he were both equally inclined 
to every virtue, but Pelopidas delighted more in 
the exercises of the body, and Epaminondas in 
the improvement of the mind. The one diverted 
himself in the wrestling ring or in hunting, while 
the other spent his hours of leisure in hearing or 
reading philosophy. Among the many things 
that reflected glory upon both, there was nothing 
which men of sense so much admired as that strict 
and inviolable friendship which existed between 
them from first to last, in all the high posts which 
they held, both military and civil. 

In conjunction with Epaminondas he won a 
splendid victory at Leuctra, and the two friends 
were thereupon appointed joint governors of Bce- 
otia. They drove the Spartans out of Messeoia, 
and re-established the ancient inhabitants. Pe- 
lopidas was then sent to Macedonia as arbitrator 
between Alexander and Ptolemy, and afterwards 
went as ambassador to the Persian Court, where 
he was highly honored by Artaxerxes. He was 
killed in battle B.C. 364. 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES 79 



MARCELLUS. 

Note. — Marcellus (Roman) . Marcellus was the name 
of several noble Roman families. The striking 
death of Marcus Claudius Marcellus, as described 
by Plutarch, took place B.C. 208. 

Marcus Claudius Marcellus, who was five times 
consul, was the son of Marcus, and the first of 
his family that bore the surname of Marcellus, 
that is, Martial. He had, indeed, a great deal 
of military experience ; his body was strong, his 
arm almost irresistible, and he was naturally in- 
clined to war. But though impetuous and lofty 
in combat, on other occasions he was modest and 
humane. He was so far a lover of the Grecian 
learning and eloquence as to honor and admire 
those that excelled therein, though his employ- 
ments prevented his making that progress in them 
which he desired. 

The account of the siege of Syracuse is full of 
interest. Marcellus made his attacks both by sea 
and land, — Appius Claudius commanding the land 
forces, and himself the fleet, which consisted of 
sixty galleys, of five banks of oars, full of all 
sorts of arms and missile weapons. Besides 
these, he had a prodigious machine, carried upon 
eight galleys fastened together, with which he 
approached the walls, relying upon the number 
of his batteries and other instruments of war, as 
well as on his own great character. But Archim- 
edes, the philosopher, despised all this, and 
confided in the superiority of his engines. He 



80 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

made for King Hiero all manner of engines and 
machines which could be used either for attack or 
defence in a siege. They were extremely service- 
able to the Syracusans on the present occasion, 
who, with such a number of machines, had the 
advantage of their being directed by the inventor. 
When the Romans attacked them, both by sea 
and land, they were struck dumb with terror, 
imagining they could not possibly resist such nu- 
merous forces and so furious an assault. But 
Archimedes soon began to play his engines, and 
they shot against the land forces all sorts of mis- 
siles, weapons, and stones of an enormous size, 
with so incredible a noise and rapidity, that noth- 
ing could stand before them ; they overturned and 
crushed whatever came in their way, and spread 
terrible disorder throughout the ranks. On the 
side toward the sea were erected vast machines, 
shooting forth on a sudden, over the walls, huge 
beams with the necessary tackle, which striking 
with a prodigious force on the enemy's galleys, 
sank them at once; while other ships, hoisted up 
at the prows by iron grapples or hooks, like the 
beaks of cranes, and set on end, were plunged to 
the bottom of the sea. Others, again, by ropes 
and graplines, were drawn toward the shore, 
and after being whirled about, and dashed against 
the rocks that projected below the walls, were 
broken to pieces, and the crews perished. Very 
often a ship, lifted high above the sea, suspended 
and twirling in the air, presented a most dreadful 
spectacle. There it swung till the men were 



plutarch's lives 8i 

thrown out by the violence of the motion, and 
then it split against the walls, or sank on the en- 
gine's letting go its hold. As for the machine 
which Marcellus brought forward upon eight gal- 
leys, and which was called "Sambuca," on account 
of its likeness to the musical instrument of that 
name, whilst 'it was at a considerable distance 
from the walls, Archimedes discharged a stone of 
ten talents weight, and after that a second and 
a third, all which striking upon it with an amaz- 
ing noise and force, shattered and totally dis- 
jointed it. 

Marcellus, in this distress, drew off his galleys 
as fast as possible, and likewise sent orders to the 
land forces to retreat. He then called a council 
of war, in which it was resolved to come close to 
the walls, if it were possible, next morning before 
day; for Archimedes' engines, they thought, 
being very strong, and intended to act at a con- 
siderable distance, would then discharge the mis- 
siles over their heads, and if they were pointed at 
them when they were so near they would have no 
effect. But for this Archimedes had long been 
prepared, having by him engines fitted to all dis- 
tances, with suitable weapons and shorter beams. 
Besides, he had caused holes to be made in the 
walls, in which he placed scorpions that did not 
carry far, but could be discharged very fast ; and 
by these the enemy was galled, without knowing 
whence the missile came. 

When, therefore, the Romans were got close to 
the walls, undiscovered, as they thought, they 
6 



82 plutarch's lives 

were welcomed with a shower of darts and huge 
pieces of rocks, which fell, as it were, perpen- 
dicularly upon their heads; for the engines played 
from every quarter of the walls. This obliged 
them to retire ; and when they were at some dis- 
tance, other shafts were shot at them in their re- 
treat from the larger machines, which made ter- 
rible havoc among them, as well as greatly dam- 
aged their shipping. Archimedes had placed 
most of his engines under cover of the walls, so 
that the Romans, being infinitely distressed by 
an invisible enemy, seemed to fight against the 
gods. 

Marcellus, however, got off and laughed at his 
own artillerymen and engineers, saying, — "Why 
do we not leave off contending with this mathe- 
matical Briareus, who, sitting on the shore, and 
acting as it were but in jest, has shamefully 
baffled our naval assault ; and, in striking us 
with such a multitude of bolts at once, exceeds 
even the hundred-handed giants in the fable?" 
At last, the Romans were so terrified that if they 
saw but a rope or a stick put over the walls, they 
cried out that Archimedes was leveling some ma- 
chine at them, and turned their backs and fled. 
Marcellus seeing this, gave up all thoughts of 
proceeding by assault, and leaving the matter to 
time, turned the siege into a blockade. 

When at last the city was taken, Archimedes 
was found in his study engaged in some mathe- 
matical researches. His mind as well as his eye 
was so intent upon his diagram that he neither 



plutarch's lives 8$ 

heard the tumultuous noise of the Romans nor 
perceived that the city was taken. A soldier sud- 
denly entered his room, and ordered him to follow 
him to Marcellus ; and Archimedes refusing to do 
it till he had finished his problem and brought his 
demonstration to bear, the soldier, in a passion, 
drew his sword and killed him. Marcellus was 
much concerned at his death, and bestowed many 
favors on his relatives. 

A subsequent battle with Hannibal is thus de- 
scribed : — Both armies then engaged ; and Han- 
nibal, seeing no advantage gained by either, or- 
dered his elephants to be brought forward into 
the first line, and to be pushed against the Ro- 
mans. The shock caused great confusion at first 
in the Roman front ; but Flavius, a tribune, 
snatching an ensign-staff from one of the com- 
panies, advanced, and with the point of it 
wounded the foremost elephant. The beast 
upon this turned back, and ran upon the second, 
the second upon the next that followed, and so on 
till they were all put in great disorder. Marcellus 
observing this, ordered his horse to fall furiously 
upon the enemy, and, taking advantage of the 
confusion already made, to rout them entirely. 
Accordingly, they charged with extraordinary 
vigor, and drove the Carthaginians to their en- 
trenchments. The slaughter was dreadful ; and 
the fall of the killed, and the plunging of the 
wounded elephants, contributed greatly to it. It 
is said that more than eight thousand Cartha- 
ginians fell in this battle; of the Romans not 



84 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

above three thousand were slain, but almost all 
the rest were wounded. 

In a later battle Hannibal was successful, and 
Marcellus was caught in an ambuscade and killed. 
Hannibal, when he knew that Marcellus was dead, 
hastened to the place, and, standing over the 
body a long time, surveyed its size and mien, but 
without speaking one insulting word, or showing 
the least sign of joy, which might have been ex- 
pected at the fall of so dangerous and formidable 
an enemy. At last, taking his signet from his 
finger, he caused the body to be magnificently 
attired and burned, and the ashes to be put in 
a silver urn, and then placed a crown of gold 
upon it. 

ARISTIDES. 

Note. — Aristides (Athenian). This famous Athenian 
flourished in the fifth century b.c. He was twice 
banished, and died in poverty and exile b.c. 467. 

Aristides was an Athenian general, son of Ly- 
simachus. Of all the virtues of Aristides, the 
people were most struck with his justice. Thus 
he, though a poor man and a commoner, gained 
the royal and divine title of "The Just," which 
kings and tyrants have never been fond of. It 
has been their ambition to be styled u Takers of 
cities," "Thunderbolts," or "Conquerors." Nay, 
some have chosen to be called " Eagles" and 
"Vultures," preferring the fame of power to that 
of virtue. 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES 85 

Aristides at first was loved and respected for 
his surname of "The Just," and afterwards envied 
as much ; the latter, chiefly by the management 
of Themistocles, who gave it out among the peo- 
ple that Aristides had abolished the courts of judi- 
cature by drawing the arbitration of all causes to 
himself, and so was insensibly gaining sovereign 
power. The people, uneasy at finding any one 
citizen rising to such extraordinary honor and 
distinction, assembled at Athens from all the 
towns in Attica, and banished Aristides by the 
Ostracism — disguising their envy of his char- 
acter under the specious pretence of guarding 
against tyranny. 

The Ostracism was conducted in the following 
manner : — Every citizen took a piece of a broken 
pot, or a shell, on which he wrote the name of the 
person he wished to have banished, and carried it 
to a part of the market-place that was inclosed 
with wooden rails. The magistrates then counted 
the number of the shells, and if it amounted not 
to six thousand, the Ostracism stood for nothing ; 
if it did, they' sorted the shells, and the person 
whose name was found on the greatest number 
was declared an exile for ten years, but with per- 
mission to enjoy his estate. At the time that 
Aristides was banished, when the people were in- 
scribing the names on the shells, it is reported 
that an illiterate burgher came to Aristides whom 
he took for some ordinary person, and giving him 
his shell, desired him to write " Aristides" upon it. 
The good man, surprised at the adventure, asked 



86 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

him,— ''Whether Aristides bad ever injured him?" 
"No," said he ; "nor do I even know him ; but it 
vexes me to hear him everywhere called ' The 
Just.'" Aristides made no answer, but took the 
shell, and having written his own name upon it, 
returned it. He was banished for ten years ; but 
after three years, when Xerxes was marching 
through Thessaly and Bceotia to Attica, the Athe- 
nians recalled Aristides. 

As to his death, some say it happened in Pon- 
tus, others that he died at Athens, full of days, 
honored and admired by his fellow-citizens. 



CATO, THE CENSOR. 

Note— Cato the Censor (Roman) . The date of 
Cato's birth was b.c. 234. He well deserved the 
name of Wise. He was elected consul in b.c. 195, 
and completed his brilliant military career at 
Thermopylae. His election to the censorship took 
place b.c 184. When he died, at the age of eighty - 
five, he left one hundred and fifty orations which 
are greatly admired. 

Porcius Cato was born at Tusculum. Inured 
to labor and temperance, and brought up in 
camps, he had an excellent constitution, and was 
healthy and strong. He studied eloquence, be- 
cause he considered it- not only useful but neces- 
sary for every man who does not wish to live an 
obscure, inactive life. He was soon considered an 
able pleader and a good orator. He was not only 
so disinterested as to plead without fee or re- 
ward, but it appears that honor was his principal 



plutarch's lives 87 

aim. But the height of his ambition was to be 
great in military matters. When he was but a 
youth he had fought in so many battles that his 
breast was covered with scars. In battle he stood 
firm, had a fierce look, and spoke to his enemy in 
a threatening and dreadful accent. He judged 
that such behavior often strikes an adversary with 
greater terror than the sword itself. He always 
marched on foot, carried his own weapons, and 
was attended by one servant only, who carried 
provisions. All the time he was in the army he 
usually drank nothing but water; but when al- 
most burnt up with thirst he would ask for a little 
vinegar, or when his strength was exhausted he 
took a little wine. A nobleman of great power 
and eminence, named Valerius Flaccus, was so 
charmed with Cato's character that he encouraged 
him to go to Rome and apply himself to affairs of 
State. There he took Fabius Maximus as his 
example, and was the opponent of Scipio. He 
soon gained so much influence and authority by 
his eloquence that he was commonly called the 
Roman Demosthenes ; but he was still more cele- 
brated for his frugal manner of living. He has 
stated himself that he thought nothing cheap that 
was superfluous ; that what a man has no need of is 
dear even at a penny ; and that it is much better 
to have fields where the plow goes or cattle 
feed, than fine gardens and walks that require 
much watering and sweeping. It was a saying 
of his, "That wise men learn more from fools 
than fools from the wise ; for the wise avoid the 



88 plutarch's lives 

errors of fools, while fools do not profit by the ex- 
ample of the wise. " Another of his sayings was, 
"That he liked a young man that blushed more 
than one that turned pale ; and that he did not 
like a soldier who moved his hands in marching, 
and his feet in fighting, and who snored louder 
in bed than he shouted in battle. " 

He was a good father, a good husband, and an 
excellent economist. He chose his wife rather 
for her family than her fortune ; persuaded that 
though both the rich and the high-born have their 
pride, yet women of good families are more 
ashamed of any base and unworthy action, and 
more obedient to their husbands in everything 
that is good and honorable. When he had a son 
born, no business, however urgent, except public 
affairs, could hinder him from being present while 
his wife washed and swaddled the infant ; for she 
suckled it herself. Nay, she often gave the breast 
to the sons of her servants, to inspire them with 
a brotherly regard for her own. As soon as 
the dawn of understanding appeared, Cato took 
upon him the office of schoolmaster to his son, 
though he had a servant who was a good gram- 
marian, and taught several other children. But 
he tells us he did not choose that his son should 
be reprimanded by a slave, or pulled by the ears 
if he happened to be slow in learning, or that he 
should be indebted to so mean a person for his 
education. He was, therefore, himself his pre- 
ceptor in grammar, in law, and in the necessary 
exercises ; for he taught him not only how to 



plutarch's lives 89 

throw a dart, to fight hand-to-hand, and to ride, 
but to box, to endure heat and cold, and to swim 
the most rapid rivers. 

He wrote a book concerning country affairs, in 
which, among other things, he gives rules for 
making cakes and preserving fruit ; for he was 
desirous to be thought curious and particular in 
everything. He kept a better table in the coun- 
try than in the town ; for he always invited some 
of his acquaintances in the neighborhood to sup 
with him. With these he passed the time in 
cheerful conversation, making himself agreeable 
not only to those of his own age, but to the young. 
He looked upon the table as one of the best means 
of forming friendships ; and at his the conversa- 
tion generally turned upon the praises of great 
and excellent men among the Romans. As for 
the bad and the unworthy, no mention was made 
of them ; for he would not allow in his company 
one word, either good or bad, to be said of such 
men. 

The last service he is said to have done the pub- 
lic was the destruction of Carthage. The younger 
Scipio, indeed, gave the finishing stroke to that 
work, but it was undertaken chiefly by the advice 
and at the instance of Cato. 



90 PLUTARCH S LIVES 



PHILOPCEMBN. 

Note. — Philopcemen (Greek). Philopcemen, called 
the last of the Greeks, was born in Arcadia, b.c. 
252. His death by poison, when a prisoner of the 
Messenians, took place B.C. 183. 

Philopcemen, from a child, was fond of every- 
thing military, and readily entered into the exer- 
cises which tended to that purpose ; those of rid- 
ing, for instance, and handling of weapons. As 
he seemed well formed for wrestling, too, his 
friends and governors advised him to improve 
himself in that art ; which gave him occasion to 
ask whether that might be consistent with his 
proficiency as a soldier? They told him the truth ; 
that the habit of body and manner of life, the diet 
and exercise, of a soldier and a wrestler, were en- 
tirely different ; that the wrestler must have much 
sleep and full meals, stated times of exercise and 
rest, every little departure from his rules being 
very prejudicial to him ; whereas the soldier 
should be prepared for the most irregular changes 
of living, and should chiefly endeavor to bring 
himself to bear the want of food and sleep without 
difficulty. Philopcemen, hearing this, not only 
avoided and derided the exercise of wrestling 
himself, but afterward, when he came to be gen- 
eral, to the utmost of his power exploded the 
whole art, by every mark of disgrace and expres- 
sion of contempt, — satisfied that it rendered per- 
sons who were the most fit for war quite useless 
and unable to fight on necessary occasions. 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 91 

His leisure he spent either in the chase, which 
increased both his strength and activity, or in 
the tillage of the field. For he had a handsome 
estate, twenty furlongs from the city, to which he 
went every day after dinner, or after supper ; and 
at night he threw himself upon an ordinary mat- 
tress and slept as one of the laborers. Early in 
the morning he rose and went to work along with 
his vine -dressers or plowmen ; after which he 
returned to the town, and employed his time 
about the public affairs with his friends, and with 
the magistrates. What he gained in the wars he 
laid out upon horses or arms, or in redeeming 
captives. He was elected general of the Achae- 
ans the eighth time when he was seventy years of 
age, and he did not then think himself too old to 
command an army. He marched against the 
Messenians, but was captured and poisoned. 



TITUS QUINCTIUS FLAMINIUS. 

Note. — Titus Quinctius Flaminius (Roman). This 
Roman general was made consul B.C. 198. His de- 
feat of Philip at Cynoscephalae, B.C. 197, termin- 
ated the Macedonian war. He went to Prusias, 
king of Bythnia, in B.C. 183 to demand the surren- 
der of Hannibal who had taken refuge at the court. 
The death of Flaminius took place about b.c 175. 

This celebrated Roman general was, from his 
youth, trained to the profession of arms. His 
early successes in the wars inspired him with 
such lofty thoughts that, overlooking the ordi- 
nary previous steps by which young men ascend, 



92 plutarcii's lives 

I mean the offices of tribune, praetor, and sedile, 
he aimed directly at the consulship. But the trib- 
unes, Fulvius and Manlius, opposed him, insist- 
ing that is was a strange and unheard-of thing 
for a man so young, who was not yet initiated in 
the first mysteries of government, to intrude in 
contempt of the laws, into the highest office in the 
State. The senate referred the affair to the suf- 
frages of the people ; and the people elected him 
Consul, though he was not yet thirty years old. 

Flaminius was successful in setting Greece free, 
and greatly prided himself in having done so. 
He dedicated some silver bucklers, together with 
his own shield, at Delphi; he put upon them the 
following inscription : — 

11 Ye Spartan twins, who tamed the foaming steed, 
Ye friends, ye patrons of each glorious deed, 
Behold Flaminius, of Eneas' line, 
Presents this offering at your awful shrine. 
Ye sons of love, your generous paths he trod, 
And snatched from Greece each little tyrant's rod." 

He offered also to Apollo a golden crown, with 
verses inscribed on it. 

Hannibal was seventy years old when he was 
defeated at Zama by Scipio. Flaminius provoked 
him to destroy himself. Some say Hannibal 
wound his cloak about his neck and ordered his 
servant to put his knees upon his back, and pull 
with all his force, and not to leave off twisting till 
he had quite strangled him. Others tell us that, 
like Themistocles and Midas, ho drank bull's 
blood. But Livy writes, that, having poison in 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 93 

readiness, he mixed it for a draught, and taking 
the cup in his hand, said, — "Let me deliver the 
Romans from their cares and anxieties, since they 
think it too tedious and dangerous to wait for the 
death of a poor hated old man. Yet shall not 
Titus gain a conquest worth envying, or suitable 
to tbe generous proceedings of his ancestors." 
Thus Hannibal is said to have died. When the 
news was brought to the senate, many in that au- 
gust body were highly displeased. Flaminius ap- 
peared too officious and cruel in his precautions to 
procure the death of Hannibal, now tamed by his 
misfortunes, like a bird, that, through age, had 
lost its tail and feathers, and suffered to live so ; 
and, as he had no orders to put him to death, it 
was plain that he did it out of a passion for fame, 
and to be mentioned in after- times as the destroyer 
of Hannibal. 

PYRRHUS. 

Note.— Pyrrhus (Greek). Pyrrhus ascended his 
father's throne 295 b.c. He made war on the 
Romans fourteen years later and was one of the 
most illustrious generals of the age in which he 
lived. The particulars of his death are given in 
the following sketch. 

Pyrrhus was a renowned king of Epirus, who 
was descended from Hercules on his father's side, 
and from Achilles on his mother's. On the ban- 
ishment of his father ^Eacides he was taken to the 
court of Glaucias,King of Illyricum, who brought 
him up, and succeeded in putting him on the 



94 plutarch's lives 

throne of Epirus when he was quite a youth. 
Pyrrhus is described as having an air of majesty 
rather terrible than august. Instead of teeth in 
his upper jaw he had one continued bone, marked 
with small lines, resembling the divisions of a 
row of teeth. He was believed to have the power 
of curing the spleen, and it is asserted that this 
miraculous power was seated in the great toe of 
the right foot, for after his death, when his body 
was consumed by the fire, the toe was found un- 
touched by the flames. 

Neoptolemus succeeded in usurping the throne 
when Pyrrhus was about nineteen years old, but 
after a good deal of fighting he regained his king- 
dom. He then gladly accepted the invitation of 
the Tarentines to help them against the Romans. 
In his first battle with them his elephants obtained 
him the victory, for the Romans were frightened at 
their bulk and ferocity. The number of slain was 
so nearly equal on both sides that, though Pyr- 
rhus was conqueror, he uttered the memorable 
saying, "Another such victory and we are un- 
done." He next went against the Carthaginians, 
and obtained two victories and took many towns. 
He then renewed hostilities against the Romans 
at Tarentum, and was defeated by Curius. He 
left Italy much mortified that one of the descend- 
ants of Achilles should have been thus defeated. 
In Epirus he sought to regain his military re- 
nown, and began by attacking Antigonus, whom 
he conquered, and was once more raised to the 
throne of Macedonia. He afterward marched 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 95 

against Sparta, but was compelled to retreat to 
Argos. It was in this town that he met his death. 
His army reached the city at night, and got as 
far as the market-place, when it was found that 
the gate was not high enough to allow the ele- 
phants to pass under, and it was necessary to take 
off their towers. When the animals had passed 
through their towers were put on again. This 
took so much time that the citizens were aroused, 
and ran to the fort for safety. Meantime, the 
town was filled with soldiers, friends, and foes. 
Pyrrhus entered, and was welcomed by loud 
shouts. He pushed forward his cavalry, though 
they marched in danger from the number of 
drains and sewers of which the city was full. Be- 
sides, in this nocturnal engagement it was impos- 
sible either to see what was done, or hear the or- 
ders that were given. The soldiers lost their way 
in the narrow streets, and the officers could not 
rally them, and daylight was anxiously waited 
for. At the first dawn, Pyrrhus was concerned 
to see the Aspis, or citadel, full of armed men ; 
but his concern was changed into consternation 
when, amongst the statuary in the market-place, 
he saw a wolf and a bull in brass represented in 
the act of fighting ; for he recollected an oracle 
which had foretold " that it was his destiny to die 
when he should see a wolf encountering a bull." 
Pyrrhus, quite dispirited at the sight, and per- 
ceiving at the same time that nothing succeeded 
according to his hopes, thought it best to retreat. 
Fearing that the gates were too narrow, he sent 



96 plutarch's lives 

orders to his son Helerms, who was left with the 
main body outside the town, to demolish part of 
the wall, and assist the retreat if the enemy tried 
to obstruct it. But the person whom he sent, mis- 
taking the order in the hurry and tumult, and de- 
livering it quite in a contrary sense, the young 
prince entered the gates with the rest of the ele- 
phants and the best of his troops, and marched to 
assist his father. Pyrrhus was now retiring, and 
while the market-place afforded room both to re- 
treat and fight, he often faced about and repulsed 
the assailants. But when from that broad place 
he came to crowd into the narrow street leading 
to the gate, he fell in with those who were advanc- 
ing to his assistance. It was in vain to call out 
to them to fall back ; there were but few that 
could hear him ; and such as did hear, and were 
most disposed to obey his orders, were pushed 
back by those who came pouring in behind. Be- 
sides, the largest of the elephants had fallen down 
in the gateway, and lying there and braying in a 
horrible manner, it stopped those who would have 
got out. And among the elephants already in the 
town, one named Nicon, striving to take up his 
master who was fallen off wounded, rushed 
against the party that was retreating, and over- 
turned both friends and enemies promiscuously 
till he found the body, when he took it up with 
his trunk, and, carrying it on his tusks, returned 
in great fury, and trod down all before him. 
When they were thus pressing and crowded to- 
gether, not a man could do anything singly ; but 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 97 

the whole multitude, like one close compact body, 
rolled this way and that all together. They ex- 
changed but few blow T s with the enemy either in 
front or rear, and the greatest harm they did was 
to themselves ; for if any man drew his sword or 
leveled his pike, he could not recover the one or 
put up the other ; the next person, therefore, who- 
ever he happened to be, was necessarily wounded, 
and thus many of them fell by the hands of each 
other. 

Pyrrhus, seeing the tempest rolling around 
him, took off the plume with which his helmet 
was distinguished, and gave it to one of his 
friends ; then, trusting to the goodness of his 
horse, he rode in amongst the enemy who were 
harassing his rear, and it happened that he was 
wounded through the breast-plate with a javelin. 
The wound was rather slight than dangerous, but 
he turned against the man that gave it, who was 
an Argive of no note, the son of a poor old wo- 
man. This woman among others, looking at the 
fight from the roof of a house, beheld her son thus 
engaged. Seized with terror at the sight, she 
took up a large tile with both her hands, and 
threw it at Pyrrhus. The tile fell upon his head, 
and, notwithstanding his helmet, crushed the 
lower vertebrae of his neck. Darkness in a mo- 
ment covered his eyes, his hands let go the reins, 
and he fell from his horse by the tomb of Licym- 
nius. His head was cut off and carried to An- 
tigonus b.c. 272. 

Pyrrhus has been greatly extolled as a general, 
7 



98 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

not only by his friends but also by his enemies. 
The Romans praised him greatly, and he is stated 
to have said that if he had soldiers like the Ro- 
mans he would have conquered all the nations of 
the world. 



CAIUS MARIUS. 

Note. — Caius Marius (Roman). Cams Marius was 
born about B.C. 157, probably at Cerretinum. 
Having entered the army he became known to 
Scipio Africanus. His great success caused him 
to be hailed " The Third Founder of Rome," and 
he was rewarded with a fifth consulate, followed 
by a sixth. He afterward became infamous be- 
cause of his bloody prosecutions. While Consul 
for the seventh time, he died, as it is believed, 
from excessive indulgence in wine. 

We know of no third name of Caius Marius. 
Like some other Roman generals he was of poor 
parentage ; but, forsaking the plow for the 
sword, he soon signalized himself as a soldier, 
under Scipio, at the siege of Numantia. He was 
elected Consul, and appointed to carry on the war 
against Jugurtha, whom he defeated. 

Soon after this the Roman provinces were in- 
vaded by a band of barbarians from all parts, es- 
timated at three hundred thousand men. Marius 
was sent against the Teutones. He came up with 
them at Aquae Sextiae, a short march from the 
Alps. There Marius prepared for battle, having 
pitched upon a place for his camp which was un- 
exceptionable in point of strength, but afforded 
little water. By this circumstance, they tell us, 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 99 

he wanted to excite the soldiers to action ; and 
when many of them complained of thirst he 
pointed to a river which ran close by the enemy's 
camp, and told them, "That thence they must 
purchase water with their blood. " "Why then," 
said they, "do you not lead us thither immedi- 
ately, before our blood is quite parched up?" To 
which he answered in a softer tone, "I will lead 
you thither, but first let us fortify our camp." 

The soldiers obeyed, though with some reluc- 
tance. But the servants of the army, being in 
great want of water both for themselves and their 
cattle, ran in crowds to the stream, some with 
pickaxes, some with hatchets, and others with 
swords and javelins, along with their pitchers; 
for they were resolved to have water, though they 
were obliged to fight for it. These at first were 
encountered by a small party of the enemy ; when 
some having bathed, were engaged at dinner, and 
others were still bathing, for there the country 
abounds in hot wells. This gave the Romans an 
opportunity of cutting off a number of them, 
while they were indulging themselves in those 
delicious baths, and charmed with the sweetness 
of the place. The cry of these brought others to 
their assistance ; .so that it was now difficult for 
Marius to restrain the impetuosity of his soldiers, 
who were in pain for their servants. Besides the 
Ambrones, to the number of thirty thousand, 
who were the best troops the enemy had, and 
who had already defeated Manlius and Csepio, 
were drawn out, and stood to their arms. Though 

l.ofC. 



IOO PLUTARCH S LIVES 

they had overcharged themselves with eating, yet 
the wine they had drunk had given them fresh 
spirits ; and they advanced, not in a wild and dis- 
orderly manner, or with a confused and inarticu- 
late noise, but beating their arms at regular inte- 
rvals, and all keeping time with the tune, they 
came on, crying out, " Ambrones !" "Ambrones!" 
This they did either to encourage each other or to 
terrify the enemy with their name. The Ligu- 
rians were the first of the Italians that moved 
against them ; and when they heard the enemy 
cry "Ambrones," they echoed back the word, 
which was indeed their own ancient name. Thus 
the shout was often returned from one army to 
the other before they charged, and the officers on 
both sides joining in it, and striving which should 
pronounce the word loudest, added by this means 
to the courage and impetuosity of their troops. 

The Ambrones were obliged to pass the river, 
and this broke their order ; so that, before they 
could form again, the Ligurians charged the fore- 
most of them, and thus began the battle. The 
Romans came to support the Ligurians ; and pour- 
ing down from the higher ground, pressed the 
enemy so hard that they soon put them in dis- 
order. Many of them jostling each other on the 
banks of the river, were slain there, and the river 
itself was filled with dead bodies. Those who 
got safe over not daring to make headway, were 
cut off by the Romans, as they fled to their camp 
and carriages. There the women, meeting them 
with swords and axes, and setting up a horrid and 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES IOI 



hideous cry, fell upon the fugitives, as well as the 
pursuers, the former as traitors and the latter as 
enemies. Mingling with the combatants, they 
laid hold on the Roman shields, catched at their 
swords with their naked hands, and obstinately 
suffered themselves to be hacked to pieces. It is 
computed that two hundred thousand of the bar- 
barian forces were killed in this compaign. Next 
year the Cimbri were overthrown, and one hun- 
dred and forty thousand were killed, and sixty 
thousand caken prisoners by the Romans. Ma- 
rius was then elected Consul for the sixth time, 
and soon after, in endeavoring to crush the power 
of Sylla, he laid the foundation of a civil war. 
He was obliged to fly to Africa for safety, where 
he was discovered. Sylla ordered him to be 
killed. No citizen would undertake this office ; 
but a dragoon went up to him sword in hand, 
with an intent to dispatch him. The chamber in 
which he lay was somewhat gloomy, and a light, 
they tell you, glanced from the eyes of Marius, 
which darted on the face of the assassin ; while, 
at the same time, he heard a solemn voice saying, 
"Dost thou dare to kill Marius?" Upon this the 
assassin threw down his sword and fled, crying, 
44 1 cannot kill Marius. " 
He died of fever, at the age of seventy. 



102 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 



LYSANDER. 



Note. — Lysander (Spartan). Lysander lived in the 
fourth century B.C. His defeat of the Athenians 
under Antiochus, off the coast of Asia Minor, took 
place B.C. 407. His victory of -ZEgos Potamos, 
which virtually ended the Peloponnesian war, oc- 
curred two years later. 

Aristoclitus, the father of Lysander, is said 
not to have been of the royal line, but to be de- 
scended from the Heraclidse by another family. 
As for Lysander, he was bred in poverty. No 
one conformed more freely to the Spartan disci- 
pline than he did. He had a firm heart, above 
yielding to the charms of any pleasure, except 
those which result from the honor and success 
gained by great actions. At Sparta they in- 
stilled into their children an early passion for 
glory, and taught them to be as much affected by 
disgrace as elated by praise. 

Early in life Lysander ingratiated himself 
greatly with Cyrus the Younger, who presented 
him with ten thousand pieces of gold. With this 
money he increased the pay of his seamen, and 
by that means he made his navy so popular that 
the ships of the enemy were nearly emptied of 
men. Still he was afraid to give battle to Alci- 
biades personally, but as soon as that commander 
left the fleet in charge of Antiochus he fought and 
conquered. 

In the next fight with the Athenians, which was 
at ^Egos Potamos, Lysander had an army as well 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 103 

as a navy, and by waiting for a favorable oppor- 
tunity he succeeded in completely defeating the 
enemy, taking one hundred and twenty ships. 
When he had fastened the captive galleys to his 
own, and plundered the camp, he returned to 
Lampsacus, accompanied with the flutes and 
songs of triumph. This great action cost him but 
little blood ; in one hour he put an end to the Pe- 
loponnesian war, which lasted twenty-seven 
years. It had been diversified beyond all others 
by an incredible variety of events. This cruel 
war, which produced such vicissitudes of fortune, 
and destroyed more generals than all the wars of 
Greece put together, was terminated by the con- 
duct and capacity of one man. Some, therefore, 
esteemed it the effect of a divine interposition. 
There were those who said that the stars of Castor 
and Pollux appeared on each side the helm of Ly- 
sander's ship when he first set out against the 
Athenians. Others thought that a stone, which, 
according to the common opinion, fell from hea- 
ven, was an omen of this overthrow. It is said 
that Anaxagoras had foretold that one of those 
bodies which are fixed in the vault of heaven 
would one day be loosened by some shock or con- 
vulsion of the whole machine, and fall to the 
earth ; for he taught that the stars are not now 
in the places where they were originally ; that, 
being of a stony substance and heavy, the light 
they give is caused only by the reflection and re- 
fraction of the surrounding ether ; and that they 
are carried along and kept in their orbits by the 



104 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

rapid motion of the heavens, which from the be- 
ginning, when the cold, ponderous bodies were 
separated from the rest, hindered them from fall- 
ing. 

But there is another and more probable opinion 
which holds that falling stars are not emanations 
or detached parts of the elementary fire that go 
out the moment they are kindled ; nor yet a quan- 
ity of air bursting out from some compression, 
and taking fire in the upper region ; but that they 
are really heavenly bodies, which, from some re- 
laxation of the rapidity of their motion, or by 
some irregular concussion, are loosened and fall, 
not so much upon the habitable part of the globe 
as into the ocean, which is the reason that their 
substance is seldom seen. 

Lysander compelled the Athenians to pull down 
the fortifications and the long wall of the Piraeus. 
He found a pretence to change the form of gov- 
ernment and set up the thirty tyrants. He paid 
great compliments to the poets, and they in their 
turn covered him with fulsome flattery. He got 
to be extremely arrogant and cruel, and was 
killed in battle by the Haliartians, B.C. 394. 

Among the other honors paid to the memory of 
Lysander, that which I am going to mention is 
none of the least. Some persons who had con- 
tracted themselves to his daughters in his life- 
time, when they found he died poor, fell off from 
their engagements. The Spartans fined them for 
courting the alliance while they had riches in 
view, and breaking off when they discovered the 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 105 

poverty, which was the best proof of Lysander's 
probity and justice. It seems, at Sparta, there 
was a law which punished not only those who 
continued in a state of celibacy, or married too 
late, but those who married ill ; and it was lev- 
eled chiefly at persons who married into rich 
rather than good families. 

SYLLA (SULLA). 

Note. — Sylla (Roman). This Roman general, born 
b.c. 138, was one of the most debased of men, as 
he is graphically pictured by Plutarch. He be- 
came consul in his forty-ninth year and was made 
dictator of Rome b.c. 81. • His frightful death oc- 
curred b.c 78, when he was sixty years old. 

There is very little that is creditable in the 
character of Lucius Cornelius Sylla. He gained 
his fame by his military achievements. He was 
born of poor parents. As to his figure, we have 
the whole of it in his statues, except his eyes. They 
were of a lively blue, fierce and menacing ; and the 
ferocity of his aspect was heightened by his com- 
plexion, which was a strong red, interspersed with 
spots of white. From his complexion, they tell 
us, he had the name of Sylla ; and an Athenian 
droll drew the following jest from it: "Sylla's 
a mulberry, strew'd o'er with meal." Nor is it 
foreign to make these observations upon a man 
who in his youth, before he emerged from ob- 
scurity, was such a lover of drollery that he spent 
his time with mimics and jesters, and went with 
them every length of riot. Nay, when in the 



106 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

height of his power, he would collect the most 
noted players and buffoons every day, and, in a 
manner unsuitable to his age and dignity, drink 
and join with them in licentious wit. while busi- 
ness of consequence lay neglected. Indeed, Sylla 
would never admit of anything serious at his 
table ; and though at other times a man of busi- 
ness, and rather grave and austere in his manner, 
he would change instantaneously, whenever he 
had company, and begin a carousal ; so that to 
buffoons and dancers he was the most affable man 
in the world, the most easy of access, and they 
molded him just as they pleased. 

His passion for taking Athens was irresistibly 
violent ; whether it was that he wanted to fight 
against that city's ancient renown, of which noth- 
ing but the shadow now remained ; or whether 
he could not bear the scoffs and taunts with which 
Aristion, in all the wantonness of ribaldry, in- 
sulted him and Metellus from the walls. 

The composition of this tyrant's heart was in- 
solence and cruelty. He was the sink of all the 
follies and vices of Mithridates. Poor Athens, 
which had got clear of innumerable wars, tyran- 
nies, and seditions, perished at last by this mon- 
ster, as by a deadly disease. The people ate not 
only the herbs and roots that grew about the cit- 
adel, but sodden leather and oil bags, while he 
was indulging himself in riotous feasts and danc- 
ings in the daytime, or mimicking and laughing 
at the enemy. He let the sacred lamp of the god- 
dess go out for want of oil ; and when the princi- 



PLUTARCH S LIVES I07 

pal priestess sent to ask him for half a measure of 
barley, he sent her that quantity of pepper. 

An internal abscess compelled him to give up 
war. This abscess corrupted his flesh, so that, 
though he had many persons employed both day 
and night to clean him, his whole attire, his baths, 
his basins, and his food, were filled with a per- 
petual flux of vermin and corruption ; and though 
he bathed many times a day, to cleanse and purify 
himself, it was in vain, and he died a terrible death. 

Pompey conveyed the body to Rome, and con- 
ducted the whole funeral, not only with security, 
but with honor. Such was the quantity of spices 
brought in by the women that exclusive of those 
carried in two hundred and ten great baskets, a 
figure of Sylla at full length, and of a lictor be- 
sides, was made entirely of cinnamon and the 
choicest frankincense. The day happened to be 
so cloudy, and the rain was so much expected, 
that it was about three in the afternoon before 
the corpse was carried out. However, it was no 
sooner laid upon the pile than a brisk wind blew, 
and raised so strong a flame that it was consumed 
immediately. But after the pile was burnt down, 
and the fire began to die out, a great rain fell, 
which lasted till night, so that Sylla's good for- 
tune continued to the last, and assisted at his fu- 
neral. His monument stands in the Campus 
Martius ; and they tell us he wrote an epitaph for 
himself to this purport : — "No friend ever did me 
so much good, or enemy so much harm, but I re- 
paid him with interest. " 



108 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 



CIMON. 

Note. — Cimon (Athenian). Cimon was born B.C. 519. 
His first memorable exploit was the capture of the 
important town of Eion on the Strymon, 476 B.C. 
Ten years later, he gained a great victory over the 
Persians. In b.c. 461, he was banished for ten 
years, but was recalled five years later. His 
death at the siege of Citium took place B.C. 449. 

Cimon was the son of Miltiades and Hegesipyla. 
He was a person of no reputation, but censured as 
a disorderly and riotous young man. He was 
even compared to his grandfather Cimon, who, 
for his stupidity, was called Coalemus, that is, 
Idiot. He had no knowledge of music, or any 
other accomplishment which was in vogue among 
the Greeks, and he had not the least spark of the 
Attic wit or eloquence ; but there was a generos- 
ity and sincerity in his behavior which showed 
the composition of his soul to be rather of the 
Peloponnesian kind. Like the Hercules of Euri- 
pides, he was 

" Rough and unbred, but great on great occasions." 

After several successful battles he had acquired 
a great fortune ; and what he had gained glo- 
riously in the war from the enemy, he laid out 
with as much reputation upon his fellow-citizens. 
He ordered the fences of his fields and gardens to 
be thrown down, that strangers, as well as his 
own countrymen, might freely partake of his 
fruit. He had a supper provided at his house 
every day, in which the dishes were plain, but suf- 



PLUTARCH S LIVES IOQ 

ficient for a multitude of guests. Every poor cit- 
izen repaired to it at pleasure, and had his diet 
without care or trouble ; by which means he was 
enabled to give proper attention to public affairs. 

When he walked out he used to have a retinue 
of young men, well clothed ; and if he happened 
to meet an aged citizen in a mean dress, he or- 
dered some one of them to change clothes with 
him. This was great and noble. But, besides 
this, the same attendants carried with them a 
quantity of money, and when they met in the 
market-place with any necessitous person of tol- 
erable appearance, they took care to slip some 
pieces into his hand as privately as possible. 

He was killed at the siege of Citium, and his 
remains were taken to Attica, where a monument 
bears the name Cimonia. 



LUCULLUS. 

Note. — Lucullus (Roman). Lucius Licinius Lucullus 
was born about B.C. 115. He was made consul b.c 
74 and was engaged with varying fortunes in the 
war against Mithridates for eight years. The enor- 
mous wealth which he brought from Asia enabled 
him to give magnificent feasts, build splendid gar- 
dens, parks and fish-ponds, and to indulge his lux- 
urious tastes to the full. He died about b.c 57. 

Though he was but a stripling at the time of 
the Marsian war, there appeared many instances 
of his courage and understanding ; but Sylla's at- 
tachment to him was principally owing to his con- 
stancy and mildness. Amongst other things, he 



IIO PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

gave him the direction of the mint ; and it was 
he who coined most of Sylla's money in Pelopon- 
nesus during the Mithridatic war. From him it 
was called Lucullia, and it continued to be chiefly 
in use for the army ; for the goodness of it made 
it pass with ease. 

During the time that he was Quaestor in Asia 
and Praetor in Africa, he rendered himself con- 
spicuous by his justice and humanity. He was 
made consul, and had the conduct of the war 
against Mithridates. He was fortunate both by 
sea and land. He crossed the Euphrates and laid 
siege to Tigranocerta. The mixed multitude of 
barbarians in the city saw him, and in a menac- 
ing manner pointed to their king's armies before 
the walls. 

Lucullus, before the battle, held a council of 
war. Some advised him to quit the siege and 
meet Tigranes with all his forces ; others were of 
opinion that he should continue the siege, and not 
leave so many enemies behind him. He told them 
that neither separately gave good counsel, but 
both together did. He therefore divided his 
forces, and left Murena before the place with six 
thousand men ; while he, with the rest of the in- 
fantry, consisting of twenty-four cohorts, which 
contained not more than ten thousand combat- 
ants, with all his cavalry, and about a thousand 
slingers and archers, marched against Tigranes, 
whose army was computed at two hundred thou- 
sand men. He encamped on a large plain with 
a river before him, where his army, appearing no 



PLUTARCH S LIVES III 

more than a handful, afforded much matter of 
mirth to the flatterers of the king. Some ridiculed 
the diminutive appearance ; others, by way of 
jest, cast lots for the spoil ; and there was not 
one of the generals and princes who did not come 
and desire to be employed alone upon that ser- 
vice, while Tigranes needed only to sit still and 
look on. The king, too, thinking he must show 
himself facetious on the occasion, made use of 
that celebrated expression, "That if they came as 
ambassadors, there were too many of them ; if as 
soldiers, too few. " Thus they passed the first day 
in raillery. Next morning, at break of day, Lu- 
cullus drew out his army. The camp of the bar- 
barians was on the east side of the river ; but the 
river, where it is most fordable, makes a bend to 
the west. As Lucullus marched hastily down to 
that quarter, Tigranes thought he was retreating. 
Upon this, he called to Taxiles, and said with a 
scornful smile, "Seest thou not these invincible 
Roman legions taking to flight?" Taxiles an- 
swered, "I wish from my soul, my lord, that your 
good genius may work a miracle in your favor ; 
but these legions do not use their best accouter- 
ments in a mere march. They do not wear their 
polished shields, nor take their bright helmets out 
of their cases, as you see they have now done. 
All this splendid appearance indicates their inten- 
tion to figbt, and to advance against their enemies 
as fast as possible. " While Taxiles was yet speak- 
ing, they saw the eagle of the foremost legion 
make a motion to the right, by order of Lucullus, 



112 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

and the cohorts proceed in good order to pass the 
river. Then Tigranes, with much difficulty, 
awakened from his intoxication, and exclaimed 
two or three times, "Are these men coming 
against us?" After this, he drew out his forces 
in a hasty and disorderly manner, taking himself 
the command of the main body, and giving the 
left wing to the king of the Adiabenians, and the 
right to the king of the Medes. Before this right 
wing were placed most of the cavalry that were 
armed in steel. 

As Lucullus was going to pass the river, some 
of his officers admonished him to beware of that 
day, which had been inauspicious, or, as they 
called it, a black one to the Romans ; for on that 
day Csepio's army was defeated by the Cimbri. 
Lucullus returned that memorable answer, "I will 
make this day, too, an auspicious one for Rorne." 
It was the 6th of October. Having thus spoken, 
and withal exhorted his men to exert themselves, 
he advanced at the head of them against the 
enemy. He was armed with a breastplate of 
steel, formed in scales, which cast a surprising 
lustre ; and the robe he wore over it was adorned 
with fringe. He drew his sword immediately, to 
show his troops the necessity of coming hand 
to hand with an enemy who were accustomed to 
fight at a distance, and by the vigor of their 
charge not to leave the enemy room to exercise 
their missive weapons. Observing that the ene- 
my's heavy-armed cavalry, upon which they had 
their chief dependence, was covered by a hill that 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 113 

was plain and even at the top, and which, with an 
extent of only four furlongs, was not very difficult 
to ascend, he dispatched hisThracian and Gaulish 
horse with orders to take them on the flank, and to 
strike at nothing but the shafts of their pikes. 
Their whole strength, indeed, consists in the pike, 
and they have no other weapon, either offensive 
or defensive, that they can use, by reason of their 
heavy and unwieldy armor in which they are, as 
it were, immured. 

Meanwhile he began to climb the hill with two 
companies of infantry, and the soldiers followed 
him with great readiness, when they saw him, en- 
cumbered as he was with his armor, the first to 
labor on foot up the ascent. When he had reached 
the summit, he stood on the most conspicuous part 
of it, and cried out, "The victory is ours, my fel- 
low-soldiers, the victory is ours!" At the same 
time, he advanced against the heavy-armed cav- 
alry, and ordered his men not to make any use of 
their javelins, but to come to close action, and to 
aim their blows at their enemies' legs and thighs, 
in which parts alone they were not armed. There 
was no need, however, to put this in execution ; 
for, instead of standing to receive the Romans, 
the enemy set up a cry of fear, and most despic- 
a'bly fled, without striking a blow. In their flight 
they and their horses, heavy with armor, ran back 
upon their own infantry, and put them in confu- 
sion ; insomuch that all those myriads were routed 
without standing to receive one wound, or spill- 
ing one drop of blood. Multitudes, however, were 
8 



114 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

slain in their flight, or rather in their attempt to 
fly, their ranks being so thick and deep that they 
entangled and impeded each other. 

Tigranes rode off, one of the first, with a few 
attendants ; and seeing his son taking his share 
in his misfortune, he took the diadem from his 
head, gave it him, with tears, and desired him to 
save himself in the best manner he could by tak- 
ing some other road. The young prince did not 
venture to wear it, but put it in the hands of one 
of his most faithful servants, who happened after- 
wards to be taken and brought to Lucullus ; by 
this means the royal diadem of Tigranes added to 
the honors of the spoil. It is said that of the foot 
there fell above a hundred thousand, and of the 
horse very few escaped ; whereas the Romans had 
but five killed, and a hundred wounded. Anti- 
ochus, the philosopher, in his Treatise concerning 
the Gods, speaking of this action, says the sun 
never beheld such another. Strabo, another phil- 
osopher, in his Historical Commentaries, informs 
us that the Romans were ashamed, and ridiculed 
each other for having employed weapons against 
such vile slaves. And Livy tells us, the Romans, 
with, such inferior numbers, never engaged such 
a multitude as this. The victors did not, indeed, 
make up the twentieth part of the vanquished. 
The most able and experienced commanders 
among the Romans paid the highest compliments 
to the generalship of Lucullus, principally be- 
cause he had defeated two of the greatest and 
most powerful kings in the world by methods en- 



PLUTARCH S LIVES IT5 

tirely different; the one by an expeditious, and 
the other by a slow process. 

Lucullus was a sumptuous liver, as the follow- 
ing particulars show. Crassus and Pompey ridi- 
culed Lucullus for giving way to a life of pleas- 
ure and expense, thinking it full as unseasonable 
at his time of life to plunge into luxury, as to di- 
rect the administration or lead armies into the 
field. Among his frivolous amusements I cannot 
but reckon his sumptuous villas, walks, and baths, 
and still more, the paintings, statues, and other 
works of art, which he collected at an immense 
expense, idly squandering away upon them the 
vast fortune which he had amassed in the wars ; 
insomuch, that even now, when luxury has made 
so much greater advances, the gardens of Lucul- 
lus are numbered with those of kings, and the 
most magnificent even of those. When Tubera, 
the Stoic, beheld his works on the sea-coast near 
Naples, the hills he had excavated for vaults and 
cellars, the reservoirs he had formed about his 
houses to receive the sea for the feeding of his fish, 
and his edifices in the sea itself, the philosopher 
called him Xerxes in a gown. Besides these, he 
had the most superb pleasure-houses in the coun- 
try near Tusculum, adorned with grand galleries 
and open saloons, as well for the prospect as for 
walks. Pompey, on a visit there, blamed Lucul- 
lus for having made the villa commodious only for 
the summer, and absolutely uninhabitable in the 
winter. Lucullus answered with a smile, "What, 
then, do you think I have not so much sense as 



n6 Plutarch's lives 

the cranes and storks, which change their habita- 
tions with the seasons ?" 

A praetor, who wanted to exhibit magnificent 
games, applied to Lucullus for some purple robes 
for the chorus in his tragedy ; and he told him he 
would inquire whether he could furnish him or 
not. Next day he asked him how many he wanted . 
The praetor answered, "A hundred would be suffi- 
cient;" upon which Lucullus said, "He might 
have twice that number if he pleased." The poet 
Horace makes this remark on the occasion : — 

11 Poor is the house where plenty has not stores 
That miss the master's eye M 

His daily repasts were like those of a man sud- 
denly grown rich ; pompous not only in the beds, 
which were covered with purple carpets, the side- 
boards of plate set with precious stones, and all 
the entertainment which musicians and comedians 
could furnish ; but in the vast variety and exquis- 
ite dressing of the provisions. These things ex- 
cited the admiration of men of unenlarged minds. 
Pompey, therefore, was highly applauded for the 
answer he gave his physician in a fit of sickness. 
The physician had ordered him to eat a thrush, 
and his servants told him, "That, as it was sum- 
mer, there were no thrushes to be found, except 
in the aviaries of Lucullus." But he would 
not suffer them to apply for them there, and said 
to his physician, "Must Pompey then have died, 
if Lucullus had not been an epicure?" 

The great expense he incurred in collecting 



plutarch's lives 117 

books deserves approbation. The number of vol- 
umes was great, and they were written in elegant 
hands ; yet the use he made of them was more 
honorable than the acquisition. His libraries 
were open to all. The Greeks repaired at pleas- 
ure to the galleries and porticos, as to the retreat 
of the Muses, and there spent whole days in con- 
versation on matters of learning— delighted to re- 
tire to such a scene from business and from care. 
Lucullus himself often joined these learned men 
in their walks, and conferred with them, and 
when he was applied to about the affairs of their 
country he gave them his assistance and advice ; 
so that his house was in fact an asylum and sen- 
ate house to all the Greeks who visited Rome. 

Lucullus bestowed the time which was not em- 
ployed in war on the promotion of law and justice. 
These had long lost their influence in Asia, which 
was then overwhelmed with unspeakable misfor- 
tunes. It was desolated and enslaved by the far- 
mers of the revenue, and by usurers. The poor 
inhabitants were forced to sell the most beautiful 
of their sons and daughters, the ornaments and 
offerings in their temples, their paintings, and the 
statues of their gods. The last resource was to 
serve their creditors as slaves. Their sufferings 
prior to this were more cruel and insupportable ; 
prisons, racks, tortures, exposures to the burning 
sun in summer, and in winter to the extremity of 
cold, amidst ice or mire ; insomuch that servitude 
seemed a happy deliverance. Lucullus, finding 
the cities in such dreadful distress, soon rescued 



n8 plutarch's lives 

the oppressed from all their burdens. In the first 
place, he ordered the creditors not to take above 
one per centum for a month's interest; in the 
next place, he abolished all interest that exceeded 
the principal ; the third and most important regu- 
lation was, that the creditor should not take above 
a fourth part of the debtor's income ; and if any 
one took interest upon interest, he was to lose all. 
By these means, in less than four years, all the 
debts were paid, and the estates restored free to 
the proprietors. Lucullus died in the fifty-eighth 
year of his age, greatly regretted by the people. 

NICIAS. 

Note. — Nicias (Athenian). Caution was the leading 
characteristic of this general, who played a promi- 
nent part in the Peloponnesian war. Renegotiated 
the Peace of Nicias, 421 B.C., by which the Atheni- 
ans and Spartans agreed to a truce for fifteen 
years. In many respects this brave general was 
the special target of misfortune. 

This Athenian general was celebrated for his 
valor and for his misfortunes. He took Cythera, 
an island well situated for ann'oying Laconia, and 
at that time inhabited by Lacedaemonians. He 
recovered many places in Thrace, which had re- 
volted from the Athenians. He shut up the Me- 
garensians within their walls, and reduced the 
island of Minoa. From thence he made an excur- 
sion soon after, and got possession of the port of 
Nisaea. He likewise made a descent upon the 
territories of Corinth, beat the troops of that 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 119 

state in a pitched battle, and killed great num- 
bers of them ; Lycophron, their general, being 
among the slain. 

He happened to leave there the bodies of two of 
his men, who were missed in carrying off the dead. 
But as soon as he knew it he stopped his course, 
and sent a herald to the enemy to ask leave to 
take away those bodies. This he did, though 
there was a law and custom existing by which 
those who desire a treaty for carrying off the dead 
give up the victory, and are not at liberty to erect 
a trophy. And indeed, those who are so far mas- 
ters of the field that the enemy cannot bury their 
dead without permission, appear to be conquerors, 
because no man would ask as a favor that which 
he could command. Nicias, however, chose rath- 
er to lose his laurels than to leave two of his 
countrymen unburied. 

One of the failings of Nicias was laziness, as we 
may read in Aristophanes' comedy of "The 
Birds, " where he says, " By heaven ! this is no time 
for us to slumber, or to imitate the lazy operations 
of Nicias." 

At the siege of Syracuse Lucullus was in chief 
command, and that place would have surrendered 
to him had not the sudden appearance of Gylip- 
pus, the Corinthian, an ally of the Sicilians, given 
them courage at the critical moment. Gylippus 
proposed terms of peace, but the Athenians re- 
fused them ; and after some battles, in which Ni- 
cias was defeated, Demosthenes was sent with 
a powerful fleet to assist him. Over-eagerness, 



120 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 



however, was the cause of the defeat of Demos- 
thenes. This was a severe blow to Nicias, though 
it was what he expected ; and he inveighed against 
the rash proceedings of Demosthenes. That gen- 
eral defended himself as well as he could, but at 
the same time gave it as his opinion that they 
should embark and return home as fast as pos- 
sible. "We cannot hope," said he, "either for 
another army, or to conquer with the forces we 
have. Nay, supposing we had the advantage, we 
ought to relinquish a situation which is well known 
at all times to be unhealthy for the troops, and 
which now we find still more fatal from the season 
of the year. " 

Demosthenes urged the matter no further, be- 
cause his former counsels had proved unfortu- 
nate. But as fresh forces came to the assistance 
of the Syracusans, and the sickness prevailed 
more and more in the Athenian camp, Nicias or- 
dered the troops to be ready to embark. Every- 
thing was accordingly prepared for embarkation, 
but in the night there happened an eclipse of the 
moon, in which Nicias and all the rest of his war- 
riors were struck with a great panic, looking upon 
the phenomenon as a bad omen. It was a great 
unhappiness to Nicias that he had not then with 
him an able diviner. Stilbides, whom he em- 
ployed on such occasions, and who used to lessen 
the influence of his superstition, died a little be- 
fore. Supposing the eclipse a portent, it could 
not, as Philochorus observes, be inauspicious to 
those who wanted to fly, but, on the contrary, 



plutarch's lives 121 



very favorable. For whatever is transacted with 
fear seeks the shades of darkness : light is the 
worst enemy. Besides, on other occasions, as 
Auticlides remarks in his Commentaries, there 
were only three days that people refrained from 
business after an eclipse of either sun or moon ; 
whereas Nicias wanted to stay another entire revo- 
lution of the moon, as if he could not see her as 
bright as ever the moment she passed the shadow 
caused by the interposition of the earth. 

But while he was waiting for more favorable 
prognostications the Syracusans surrounded him 
and attacked him by sea and land, and utterly de- 
feated him. Demosthenes was taken prisoner, 
and the troops he had the conduct of were sur- 
rounded. Upon hearing this Nicias begged to 
treat with Gylippus, and offered hostages for pay- 
ing the Syracusans the whole charge of the war, 
on condition they would suffer the Athenians to 
quit Sicily. The Syracusans rejected the pro- 
posal with every mark of insolence and outrage, 
and fell again upon the wretched man, who was 
in want of all manner of necessaries. He de- 
fended himself, however, all that night and con- 
tinued his march the next day to the river Asi- 
naarus. The enemy galled his troops all the way, 
and when they came to the banks of the river 
pushed them in. Nay, some of them, impatient to 
quench their burning thirst, voluntarily plunged 
into the stream. Then followed a most cruel 
scene of blood and slaughter, the poor wretches 
being massacred as they were drinking. At last 



122 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

Nicias threw himself at the feet of Gylippus, and 
said, "Gylippus, you should show some compas- 
sion amidst your victory. I ask nothing for my- 
self. What is life to a man whose misfortunes 
are even proverbial? But with respect to the 
other Athenians, methinks you should remember 
that the chance of war is uncertain, and with 
what humanity and moderation they treated you 
when they were victorious. " 

Gylippus was somewhat affected both at the 
sight of Nicias and at his speech. He knew the 
good offices he had done the Lacedaemonians at 
the last treaty of peace, and he was sensible it 
would contribute greatly to his honor if he could 
take two of the enemy 's generals prisoners. There- 
fore, raising Nicias from the ground, he bade him 
take courage, and gave orders that the other Athe- 
nians should have quarter. But as the order was 
slowly communicated, the number of those that 
were saved were greatly inferior to that of the 
slain, though the soldiers spared several unknown 
to their officers. 

The Athenians did not at first give credit to the 
news of this misfortune, the person who bore it 
not appearing to deserve their notice. It seems, 
a stranger who landed in the Piraeus, as he sat to 
be shaved in a barber's shop, spoke of it as of an 
event already known to the Athenians. The bar- 
ber no sooner heard it than he ran into the city, 
and informed the magistrates of the news in open 
court. Trouble and dismay seized all that heard 
it. The magistrates immediately summoned an 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 1 23 

assembly, and introduced the informant. There 
he was interrogated of whom he had the intelli- 
gence ; and as he could give no clear and perti- 
nent answer, he was considered as a forger of false 
news and a public incendiary. In this light he 
was fastened to the wheel, where he bore the tor- 
ture for some time, till at length some credible 
persons arrived, who gave a distinct account of 
the whole disaster. 

Nicias, and his general Demosthenes, were put 
to death by the Syracusans b.c. 413. 



MARCUS CRASSUS. 

Note. — Marcus Crassus (Roman). This immensely 
rich consul and triumvir defeated the insurgent 
gladiators, b.c. 71. He and Pompey were personal 
enemies, but Caesar brought about a reconcilia- 
tion, b.c. 60, when the first triumvir was formed. 
The legend is that after Crassus was slain in battle, 
Orodes, king of Parthia, had melted gold poured 
into the dead man's mouth, with the taunt : " Sate 
thyself now with that metal of which in life thou 
wert so greedy." 

Crassus had but one vice, which cast a shade 
upon his many virtues, namely, avarice. He 
made money in many ways. He had observed how 
liable the city was to fires, and how frequently 
houses fell down owing to the weight of the build- 
ings, and their standing so close together. In 
consequence of this he provided himself with slaves 
who were carpenters and masons, and went on 
collecting them till he had upwards of five hun- 
dred. Then he made it his business to buy 



124 Plutarch's lives 

houses that were on fire, and others that joined 
them, and he commonly had them at a low price 
by reason of the fear and distress the owners were 
in about the fire. Hence in time he became mas- 
ter of great part of Rome. But though he had so 
many workmen, he built no more for himself than 
one house in which he lived ; for he used to say, 
"That those who love building will soon ruin 
themselves, and need no other enemies." 

Though he had several silver mines and lands 
of great value, the revenue he drew from them 
was nothing in comparison with that produced by 
his slaves ; such a number had he of them, and all 
useful in life,— readers, amanuenses, bookkeep- 
ers, stewards, and cooks. He used to attend to 
their education, and often gave them lessons him- 
self ; esteeming it a principal part of the business 
of a master to inspect and take care of his ser- 
vants, whom he considered as the living instru- 
ments of economy. In this he was certainly right, 
if he thought, as he often said, that other matters 
should be managed by servants, but the servants 
by the master. He was wrong, however, in say- 
ing that no man ought to be esteemed rich who 
could not with his own revenue maintain an army ; 
for, as Archidamus observes, it never can be cal- 
culated what such a monster as war will devour. 

Crassus behaved in a generous manner to stran- 
gers ; his house was always open to them ; and he 
used to lend money to his friends without interest. 
Nevertheless, his rigor in demanding his money 
the very day it was due often made his apparent 



PLUTARCH S LIVES I25 

favor a greater inconvenience than the paying of 
interest would have been. As to his invitations, 
they were most of them to the commonalty; and 
though there was a simplicity in the provision, 
yet at the same time there was a neatness and un- 
ceremonious welcome, which made it more agree- 
able than more expensive tables. 

As to his studies, he cultivated oratory— most 
particularly that of the bar, which had its superior 
utility. And though he might, upon the whole, 
be reckoned equal to the first-rate speakers, yet 
by his care and application he exceeded those 
whom nature had favored more ; for there was 
not a cause, however unimportant, to which he 
did not come prepared. Besides, when Pompey 
and Caesar and Cicero refused to speak, he often 
rose and finished the argument in favor of the 
defendant. This attention of his to assist any 
unfortunate .citizen made him very popular, and 
his obliging manner in his common address had 
an equal charm. There was not a Roman, how- 
ever mean and insignificant, whom he did not 
salute, or whose salutation he did not return by 
name. 

Rome was at this time divided into three par- 
ties, at the head of which were Pompey, Caesar, 
and Crassus ; for as to Cato, his reputation was 
greater than his power, and his virtue more ad- 
mired than followed. The prudent and steady 
part of the city were for Pompey ; the violent and 
the enterprising gave in to the prospects of Caesar ; 
Crassus steered a middle course, and availed him- 



126 Plutarch's lives 

self of both. Crassus, indeed, often changed 
sides, and neither was a firm friend nor an im- 
placable enemy. On the contrary, he frequently 
gave up either his attachments or resentments in- 
differently when his interest required it ; inso- 
much that in a short space of time he would ap- 
pear either in support or opposition to the same 
persons and laws. 

As a soldier, Crassus was at first successful ; but 
he was betrayed into the hands of Surena, a gen- 
eral of the forces of Orodes, King of Parthia, and 
was put to death b.c. 53. A poet of the period 
says that he was 

44 In all trades skilled except the trade of war." 



SERTORIUS. 

Note.— Sertorius (Roman). This distinguished Ro- 
man general was made quaestor, b.c. 91. He com- 
manded the Cinnae at the siege of Rome, b.c 87. 
His despotic acts weakened his influence and 
popularity and brought about his assassination as 
narrated by Plutarch. 

Quintus Sertorius was of a respectable family 
in the town of Nursia and country of the Sabines. 
Having lost his father when a child, he had a lib- 
eral education given him by his mother, Rhea, 
whom on that account he always loved with the 
greatest tenderness. He was sufficiently qualified 
to speak in a court of justice, and by his abilities 
that way gained some interest in Rome itself when 
but a youth. But his greater talents for the camp, 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 12? 

and his success as a soldier, turned his ambition 
into that channel. 

He made his first campaign under Caepio, when 
the Cimbri and Teutones broke into Gaul. The 
Romans fought a battle, in which their behavior 
was but indifferent, and they were put to the rout. 
On this occasion Sertorius lost his horse, and re- 
ceived many wounds himself, yet he swam the 
river Rhone, armed as he was with his breastplate 
and shield, in spite of the violence of the torrent, 
— such was his strength of body, and so much had 
he improved that strength by exercise. The same 
enemy came on a second time, in such prodi- 
gious numbers and with dreadful menaces that it 
was difficult to prevail with a Roman to keep his 
post, or to obey his general. Marius had then the 
command, and Sertorius offered his service to go 
as a spy, and bring him an account of the enemy. 
For this purpose he took a Gaulish habit, and hav- 
ing learned as much of the language as might 
suffice for common address, he mingled with the 
barbarians. When he had seen and heard enough 
to let him into the measures they were taking, he 
returned to Marius, who honored him with the 
established rewards of valor; and during that 
whole war he gave such proofs of his courage and 
capacity as raised him to distinction, and perfectly 
gained him the confidence of his general. 

The Characitani are seated beyond the river 
Tagus. They have neither cities nor villages, but 
dwell upon a large and lofty hill, in dens and cav- 
erns of the rocks, the mouths of which are all to 



128 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

the north. The soil of all the country about it is 
a clay so very light and crumbly that it yields to 
the pressure of the foot, is reduced to powder with 
the least touch, and flies about like ashes or un- 
slaked lime. The barbarians, whenever they are 
apprehensive of an attack, retire to these caves 
with their booty, and look upon themselves as in 
a place perfectly impregnable. 

It happened thatSertorius, retiring to some dis- 
tance from Metellus, encamped under this hill ; 
and the savage inhabitants, imagining he retired 
only because he was beaten, offered him several 
insults. Sertorius, either provoked at such treat- 
ment, or willing to show them he was not flying 
from any enemy, mounted his horse the next day, 
and went to reconnoiter the place. As he could 
see no part in which it was accessible, he almost 
despaired of taking it, and could only vent his 
anger in vain menaces. At last he observed that 
the wind blew the dust in great quantities toward 
the mouths of the caves, which, as I said before, 
are all to the north. The north wind, which some 
call "c£ecias," prevails most in those parts, and as 
it was then the height of summer, it was remark- 
ably strong. Sertorius, reflecting upon what he 
saw, and being informed by the neighboring 
Spaniards that these were the usual appearances, 
ordered his soldiers to collect vast quantities of 
that dry and crumbly earth, so as to raise a 
mound of it over against the hill. The barba- 
rians, imagining he intended to storm their strong- 
holds from that mound, laughed at his proceed- 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 1 29 

ings. The soldiers went on with their work till 
night, and then he led them back into the camp. 
Next morning, at break of day, a gentle breeze 
sprang up, which moved the lightest part of the 
heap, and dispersed it like smoke ; and as the sun 
got up higher, the "caecias" blew again, and by 
its violence covered all the hill with dust. Mean- 
time the soldiers stirred up the heap from the 
very bottom, and crumbled all the clay ; and some 
galloped up and down to raise the light earth, 
and thicken the clouds of dust in the wind, which 
carried them into the dwellings of the Characi- 
tani, their entrances directly facing it. As they 
were caves, and of course had no other opening, 
the eyes of the inhabitants were soon filled, and 
they could scarce breathe for the suffocating dust 
which they drew in with the air. In these wretched 
circumstances they held out two days, though 
with great difficulty, and the third day surren- 
dered themselves to Sertorius at discretion, who, 
by reducing them, did not gain such an accession 
of strength as of honor ; for an honor it was to 
subdue those by stratagem whom his arms could 
not reach. 

After a time, one of his officers became jealous 
of his general's fame, and formed a conspiracy to 
kill him at an entertainment. The entertainments 
at which Sertorius was present had been always 
attended with great order and decorum ; for he 
could not bear either to see or hear the least in- 
decency, and he had ever accustomed the guests 
to divert themselves in an innocent and irre- 



130 Plutarch's lives 

proachable manner. But in the midst of the en- 
tertainment the conspirators began to seek oc- 
casion to quarrel, introduced the most dissolute 
discourse, and pretending drunkenness as the 
cause of their ribaldry. All this was done to pro- 
voke him. However, either vexed at their ob- 
scenities and discourses, or guessing at their de- 
sign, he changed his posture, and threw himself 
back upon his couch, as though he neither heard 
nor regarded them. Then Perpenna took a cup 
of wine, and as he was drinking purposely let it 
fall out of his hands. The noise it made being 
the signal for them to fall on, Antony, who sat 
next to Sertorius, gave him a stroke with his 
sword. Sertorius turned, and strove to get up; 
but Antony, throwing himself upon his breast, 
held both his hands ; so that, not being able in 
the least to defend himself, the other conspirators 
dispatched him with many wounds. 
This happened b.c. 72. 

EUMENES. 

Note. — Eumenes (Greek). Eumenes was accounted 
the most worthy of all the officers of Alexander 
the Great to succeed him after his death. His 
career is fully told in the sketch. He was born 
360 B.C. 

This Grecian general was the son of a poor 
wagoner, but he was well educated, and practiced 
the exercises in vogue at those times. While he 
was but a lad, Philip, who happened to be in 
Cardia, went to see how the young men acquitted 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES 131 

themselves at the boxing and wrestling. Eu- 
menes got on so well, and showed so much ac- 
tivity, that Philip was pleased with him and took 
him into his train. After Philip's death he main- 
tained the reputation of being equal to any of Al- 
exander's officers. His hand-to-hand fight with 
Neoptolemus made him famous. A most violent 
hatred had long subsisted between them, and this 
day added stings to it. They rushed forward im- 
petuously with swords drawn, and loud shouts. 
The shock their horses met with was so violent 
that it resembled that of two galleys. The fierce 
antagonists quitted the bridles, and laid hold on 
each other, each endeavoring to tear off the hel- 
met or the breastplate of his enemy. While their 
hands were thus engaged their horses went from 
under them, and as they fell to the ground, with- 
out quitting their hold, they wrestled for the ad- 
vantage. Neoptolemus was beginning to rise 
first, when Eumenes wounded him in the ham, 
and by that means got upon his feet before him. 
Neoptolemus being wounded in one knee sup- 
ported himself upon the other, and fought with 
great courage underneath, but was not able to 
give his adversary a mortal blow. At last, re- 
ceiving a wound in the neck, he grew faint, and 
stretched himself upon the ground. Eumenes, 
with all the eagerness of inveterate hatred, hast- 
ening to strip him of his arms, and loading him 
with reproaches, did not observe that his sword 
was still in his hand ; so that Neoptolemus 
wounded him under the cuirass where it touches 



132 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

upon the groin. However, as the stroke was but 
feeble, the apprehensions it gave him were greater 
than the real hurt. 

On one occasion when there was a conspiracy 
to kill him he pretended that he was in want of 
money, and borrowed large sums of those that 
hated him most, in order that they might give 
up their designs upon his life out of regard to the 
money lent him. Thus he found guards for him- 
self in the opulence of others ; and though men in 
general seek to save their lives by giving, he pro- 
vided for his safety by borrowing. 

It was agreed to make use of him in the ensu- 
ing battle, and to assassinate him immediately 
after. But Eudamus, master of the elephants, 
and Phaedimus, privately informed Eumenes of 
the resolutions, not out of any kindness or benev- 
olent regard, but because they were afraid of los- 
ing the money they had lent him . He commended 
them for the honor with which they behaved, and 
retired to his tent. There he told his friends, 
44 That he lived among a herd of savage beasts," 
and immediately made his will. After which he 
destroyed all his papers, lest, after his death, 
charges and impeachments should arise against 
the persons who wrote them, in consequence of 
the secrets discovered therein. Thus foiled, these 
conspirators betrayed him into the hands of Anti- 
gonus at Nora, in Cappadocia, and he was killed 
b.c. 315. 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES 133 



AGESILAUS. 

Note. — Agesilaus (Greek). The career of Agesilaus 
was a glorious one. He was past four-score, and 
had reigned more than forty years, as king of 
Lacedaemon, when returning from his campaign 
in Egypt, he was wrecked off the coast of Libya 
and perished b.c. 360. 

Archidamus II., King of Sparta, left two sons, 
Agis and Agesilaus, and as the crown by law was 
to descend to Agis, Agesilaus only had the edu- 
cation of a private citizen, which, though hard in 
respect of diet, and full of laborious exercises, was 
well calculated to teach obedience and submis- 
sion to the laws. He was lame of one leg ; but 
that defect, during his youth, was covered by the 
agreeable turn of the rest of his person, and his 
easy and cheerful manner. He would not suffer 
any portrait or statue of him to be made while he 
lived, and at his death he utterly forbade it. We 
are only told that he was a little man, and that he 
had not a commanding aspect. But a perpetual 
vivacity and cheerfulness, attended with a talent 
for raillery, which was expressed without any se- 
verity either of voice or look, made him more 
agreeable, even in age, than the young and the 
handsome. Theophrastus tells us, the ephori 
fined Archidamus for marrying a little woman. 
"She will bring us, " said they, "a race of pigmies 
instead of kings. " 

Agis died young, and Agesilaus then gained the 
diadem, and was at the same time put in posses- 



134 Plutarch's lives 

sion of his brother's private estate. He was very 
successful as a soldier till sickness compelled his 
retirement, and it is universally agreed that he 
saved Sparta by controlling his native passions of 
obstinacy and ambition, and pursuing no measures 
but what were safe. He could not, indeed, restore 
the city to her former glory and power. The con- 
stitution was admirably formed for peace, for vir- 
tue, and harmony ; but when they wanted to add 
to their dominions by force of arms, and to make 
acquisitions which Lycurgus thought unnecessary 
to their happiness, they split upon that rock he 
had warned them to avoid. 

Agesilaus now declined the service on account 
of his great age. He died in Africa at the age of 
eighty-four, of which he had reigned forty-one in 
Lacedaemon. During thirty years of that time he 
made the greatest figure, both as to reputation 
and power, being looked upon as commander-in- 
chief, and, as it were, king of Greece, till the bat- 
tle of Leuctra. 

It was the custom of the Spartans to bury per- 
sons of ordinary rank in the place where they 
expired, when they happened to die, as Agesilaus 
did, in a foreign country, but to carry the corpses 
of the kings home : and as the attendants of Age- 
silaus had not honey to preserve the body, they 
embalmed it with melted wax, and so conveyed it 
to Lacedaemon. 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 135 



POMPEY. 

Note. — Pompey (Roman). Pompey was born 106 B.C. 
A full account of his remarkable life and career is 
given in the sketch which follows. His treacher- 
ous assassination in Egypt took place B.C. 48. His 
head was cut off and sent to Caesar, who shed 
tears and turned away at the sight. 

In his youth Pompey had a very engaging coun- 
tenance, which spoke for him before he opened 
his lips. Yet that grace of aspect was not unat- 
tended with dignity, and amidst his youthful 
bloom there was a venerable and princely air. 
His hair curled a little naturally in front, which, 
together with the shining moisture and quick turn 
of his eye, produced a strong likeness of Alexan- 
der the Great. 

Having made considerable progress in the mili- 
tary art, he pleased Sylla, but could not persuade 
him to grant him (Pompey) a triumph for his vic- 
tories. Pompey resented this, and the people 
supported him. When Sylla heard that Pompey 
had revolted, he said to his friends, "Then it is 
my fate to have to contend with boys in my old 
age." When he observed that all the people 
flocked out to receive Pompey, and to conduct 
him home with marks of great regard, he resolved 
to exceed them in his regards if possible. He 
therefore hastened to meet him, and, embracing 
him in the most affectionate manner, saluted him 
aloud by the surname of Magnus, or The Great. 
At the same time he ordered all about him to 



136 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

give him the same appellation. In. this respect 
we may justly admire the wisdom of the ancient 
Romans, who bestowed on their great men such 
honorable names and titles, not only for military 
achievements, but for the great qualities and arts 
which adorn civil life. 

Yet when Crassus was elected consul they dis- 
agreed in everything and were embroiled in all 
their measures. Crassus had most interest with 
the senate, and Pompey with the people. The 
most agreeable spectacle to the people was Pom- 
pey himself, when he went to claim his exemption 
from serving in the wars. It was the custom for 
a Roman knight, when he had served the time 
ordered by law, to lead his horse into the forum 
before the two magistrates called censors, and, 
after having given account of the generals and 
other officers under whom he had made his cam- 
paigns, and of his own actions in them, to de- 
mand his discharge, On these occasions they re- 
ceived proper marks of hon or or disgrace, according 
to their behavior. 

When the censors had taken their seats to re- 
view the whole equestrian order, Pompey was 
seen at a distance, with all the badges of his 
office as consul, leading his horse by the bridle. 
As soon as he was near enough to be observed by 
the censors he ordered his lictors to make an open- 
ing, and advanced with his horse in hand to the 
foot of the tribunal. The people were struck with 
admiration, and a profound silence ensued; at 
the same time, a joy, mingled with reverence, 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 137 

was visible in the countenance of the censors. 
The senior censor then addressed him as follows : 
"Pompey the Great, I demand of you whether you 
have served all the campaigns required by law !" 
He answered with a loud voice, " I have served 
them all, and all under myself as general." The 
people were so charmed with this answer that 
there seemed no end to their acclamations. 

About this time the pirates had become very 
troublesome. The Romans being engaged in 
xnvil wars at the very gates of their capital, the 
sea was left unguarded. The pirates not only at- 
tacked ships, but islands and maritime towns. 
Many persons distinguished for their wealth, their 
birth, and their capacity, embarked with them, 
and assisted in their depredations, as if their em- 
ployment had been worthy the ambition of men of 
honor. They had in various places arsenals, ports, 
and watch-towers, all strongly fortified. Their 
fleets were not only extremely well-manned, sup- 
plied with skilful pilots, and fitted for their busi- 
ness by their lightness and celerity, but there was 
a parade of vanity about them more mortifying 
than their strength, in gilded sterns, purple can- 
opies, and plated oars, as if they took a pride in 
their villainy. Music resounded and drunken 
revels were exhibited on every coast. Here gen- 
erals were made prisoners ; there the cities the 
pirates had taken were paying their ransom, all 
to the great disgrace of the Roman power. The 
number of their galleys amounted to a thousand, 
and they were masters of four hundred cities. 



138 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

Their power extended over the whole Tuscan 
Sea, so that the Romans found their trade and 
navigation entirely cut off; the consequence of 
which was that their markets were not supplied, 
and they had reason to apprehend a famine. 
This at last suggested their sending Pompey to 
clear the sea of pirates. In pursuance of his 
charge he divided the whole Mediterranean into 
thirteen parts, appointing a lieutenant for each, 
and assigning him a squadron. By thus station- 
ing his fleets in all quarters, he inclosed the pi- 
rates, as it were, in a net, took great numbers of 
them, and brought them into harbor. Such of 
their vessels as had dispersed and made off in 
time, or could escape the general chase, retired to 
Cilicia, like so many bees into a hive. Against 
these he proposed to go himself with sixty of his 
best galleys ; but first he resolved to clear the 
Tuscan Sea, and the coasts of Africa, Sardinia, 
Corsica, and Sicily, of all piratical adventurers, 
which he effected in forty days. 

As soon as the people were informed of his re- 
turn to Rome they went in crowds to receive him, 
in the same manner as they had done a few days 
before, to conduct him on his way. Their ex- 
traordinary joy was owing to the speed with 
which he had executed his commission, so far be- 
yond all expectation, and to the superabundant 
plenty which reigned in the markets. 

He was passionately desirous to recover Syria, 
and passing from thence through Arabia, to pene- 
trate to the Red Sea, that he might go on con- 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 139 

quering every way to the ocean which surrounds 
the world. In Africa he was the first whose con- 
quests extended to the Great Sea; in Spain he 
stretched the Roman dominions to the Atlantic , 
and in his late pursuit of the Albanians he wanted 
but little of reaching the Hyrcanian Sea. In 
order, therefore, to take the Red Sea too into the 
circle of his wars, he began his march, the rather 
because he saw it difficult to hunt out Mithridates 
with a regular force, and that he was much harder 
to deal with in his flight than in battle. For this 
reason he said, " He would leave him a stronger 
enemy than the Romans to cope with, which was 
famine." In pursuance of this intention he or- 
dered a number of ships to cruise about and pre- 
vent any vessels from entering the Bosphorus 
with provisions, and that death should be the 
punishment for such as were taken in the attempt. 

Proceeding in the execution of his plan, he sub- 
dued the Arabians about Mount Amanus by his 
lieutenant Afranius, and descended himself into 
Syria, which he converted into a Roman province, 
because it had no lawful king. He reduced Judea, 
and took its king Aristobulus prisoner. He 
founded some cities and set others free, punishing 
the tyrants who had enslaved them ; but most of 
his time was spent in administering justice, and 
in deciding the disputes between cities and 
princes. 

Pompey having thus brought the campaign and 
the whole war to a conclusion so happy, and so 
far beyond his hopes, immediately quitted Arabia, 



140 PLUTARCH 5 LIVES 

traversed the provinces between that and Galatia 
with great rapidity, and soon arrived at Amisus. 
There he found many presents from Pharnaces, 
and several corpses of the royal family, among 
which was that of Mithridates. The face of that 
prince could not be easily known, because the 
embalmers had not taken out the brain, and by 
the corruption of that the features were disfigured. 
As for Pompey, he would not see the body, but, 
to propitiate the avenging deity, sent it to Sinope. 
However, he looked upon and admired the mag- 
nificence of his habit and the size and beauty of 
his weapons. 

The triumph was so great that, though it was 
divided into two days, the time was far from being 
sufficient for displaying what was prepared to be 
carried in procession, — there remained still enough 
to adorn another triumph. At the head of the 
show appeared the titles of the conquered nations, 
— Pontus, Armenia, Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, 
Media, Colchis, the Iberians, the Albanians, 
Syria, Cilicia, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Palestine, 
Judea, and Arabia, and the pirates subdued both 
by sea and land. In these countries it was men- 
tioned that there were not less than a thousand 
castles and near nine hundred cities taken, eight 
hundred galleys taken from the pirates, and thirty- 
nine desolate cities repeopled. On the face of the 
tablets it appeared besides, that whereas the 
revenues of the Roman Empire before these con- 
quests amounted but to fifty millions of drachmas, 
by the new acquisitions they were advanced to 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 141 

eighty-five millions ; and that Pompey had brought 
into the public treasury in money, and in gold and 
silver vessels, to the value of twenty thousand 
talents, besides what he had distributed among 
the soldiers, of whom he that received least had 
fifteen hundred drachmas to his share. The cap- 
tives who walked in the procession (not to men- 
tion the chiefs of the pirates) were — the son of 
Tigranes, King of Armenia, together with his 
wife and daughter ; Zosima, the wife of Tigranes 
himself ; Aristobulus, King of Judea ; the sister 
of Mithridates, with her five sons; and some 
Scythian women. The hostages of the Albanians 
and Iberians, and of the King of Commagene, also 
appeared in the train. 

But the most honorable circumstance, and what 
no other Roman could boast, was that his first 
triumph was over Africa, his second over Europe, 
and his third over Asia ; so that the three seemed 
to declare him conqueror over the world. 

In the meantime the wars in Gaul lifted Caesar 
to the first sphere of greatness. The scene of 
action was at a great distance from Rome, and he 
seemed to be wholly engaged with the Belgae, 
the Suevi, and the Britons ; but his genius all the 
while was privately at w T ork among the people of 
Rome, and he was undermining Pompey in his 
most essential interests. The gold and silver and 
other rich spoils which he took from the enemy in 
great abundance he sent to Rome, and by dis- 
tributing them freely among the aediles, praetors, 
consuls, and their wives, he gained a great party. 



142 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

Consequently, when he passed the Alps and 
wintered at Lucca, among the crowd of men and 
women who hastened to pay their respects to him 
there were two hundred senators, Pompey and 
Crassus of the number. Caesar entered into a 
treaty with Crassus and Pompey, by which it was 
agreed that they should apply for the consulship, 
and that he should assist them by sending a great 
number of his soldiers to vote at the election. 
As soon as they were chosen they were to share 
the provinces and take the command of armies 
according to their pleasure, only confirming Caesar 
in the possession of what he had for five years 
more. 

Crassus, upon the expiration of his consulship, 
repaired to his province. Pompey, remaining at 
Rome, opened his theater, and, to make the dedi- 
cation more magnificent, exhibited a variety of 
gymnastic games, entertainments of music, and 
battles with wild beasts, in which were killed five 
hundred lions ; but the battle of elephants afforded 
the most astonishing spectacle. 

Pompey then went into the city and married 
Cornelia, the daughter of Metellus Scipio. She 
was a widow, having been married when very 
young to Publius, the son of Crassus, who was 
lately killed in the Parthian expedition. This 
woman had many charms beside her beauty. She 
was well versed in polite literature ; she played 
upon the lyre, and understood geometry ; and she 
had made considerable improvements by the pre- 
cepts of philosophy. What is more, she had noth- 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 143 

ing of that petulance and affectation which such 
studies are apt to produce in women of her age. 

Being again elected consul, his first step was to 
bring those to account who had gained offices and 
employments by bribery and corruption, and he 
made laws by which the proceedings in their trials 
were to be regulated. He behaved with great 
dignity and honor, and restored security, order, 
and tranquillity to the courts of judicature by pre- 
siding there in person with a band of soldiers. 
But when Scipio, his father-in-law, came to be 
impeached, he sent for the three hundred and 
sixty judges to his house and desired their assist- 
ance. The accuser, seeing Scipio conducted out 
of the forum to his house by the judges them- 
selves, dropped the prosecution. This again ex- 
posed Pompey to censure ; but he was censured 
still more when, after having made a law against 
encomiums on persons accused, he broke it him- 
self by appearing for Plancus, and attempting to 
embellish his character. Cato, who happened to 
be one of the judges, stopped his ears, declaring, 
"It was not right for him to hear such embellish- 
ments contrary to the law." Cato, therefore, was 
objected to and set aside before sentence was 
passed. Plancus, however, was condemned by 
the other judges, to the great confusion of Pom- 
pey. 

The rupture between Caesar and Pompey was 
now complete, but the latter expressed no fear ; 
and when the citizens said that if Caesar should 
advance on Rome in a hostile manner they did 



144 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

not see what forces they had to oppose him, Pom- 
pey, with a smile, bade them give themselves no 
concern, for, said he, "If in Italy I do but stamp 
upon the ground an army will appear. " 

Caesar, however, was exerting himself greatly ; 
and the quarrel having come before the senate, 
Marcellus, the consul, called Caesar a public rob- 
ber, and insisted that he should be declared an ene- 
my to the State if he did not lay down his arms. 
However, Curio, together with Antony and Piso, 
prevailed that a further inquiry should be made 
into the sense of the senate. He first proposed 
that such as were of opinion "that Caesar should 
disband his army and Pompey keep his," should 
draw to one side of the house ; and there appeared 
a majority for that motion. Then he proposed 
that the number of those should be taken whose 
sense it was "that both should lay down their 
arms, and neither remain in command ;" upon 
which question Pompey had only twenty-two, and 
Curio all the rest. Curio, proud of his victory, 
ran in transports of joy to the assembly of the 
people, who received him with the loudest plau- 
dits, and crowned him with flowers. Pompey 
was not present at the debate in the house ; for the 
commander of an army is not allowed to enter the 
city. But Marcellus rose up and said, "I will no 
longer sit to hear the matter canvassed ; but, as I 
see ten legions have already passed the Alps, I 
will send a man to oppose them in behalf of my 
country. " 

At the same time news was brought that Caesar 



plutarch's lives 145 

had seized Ariminum, a considerable city in Italy, 
and that he was marching directly toward Rome 
with all his forces. The last circumstance, in- 
deed, was not true. He advanced with only three 
hundred horse and five thousand foot ; the rest of 
his forces were on the other side the Alps and he 
would not wait for them, choosing rather to put 
his adversaries in confusion by a sudden and un- 
expected attack, than to fight them when better 
prepared. When he came to the river Rubicon, 
which was the boundary of his province, he stood 
silent a long time, weighing with himself the 
greatness of his enterprise. At last, like one who 
plunges down from the top of a precipice into a 
gulf of immense depth, he silenced his reason, 
and shut his eyes against the danger, and crying 
out, "The die is cast, v ' he marched over with his 
army. 

Upon the first report of this at Rome the city 
was in greater disorder and astonishment than 
had ever been known. The senate and the magis- 
trates ran immediately to Pompey. Tullus asked 
him what forces he had ready for the war, and as 
he hesitated in his answer, and only said at last, 
in a tone of no great assurance, "That he had the 
two legions lately sent him back by Caesar, and 
that out of the new levies he believed he should 
shortly be able to make up a body of thirty thou- 
sand men," Tullus exclaimed, "O Pompey, you 
have deceived us !" and gave it as his opinion that 
ambassadors should immediately be dispatched 
to Caesar. Then one Favonius, a man otherwise 
10 



146 plutarch's lives 

of no ill character, but who, by an insolent brutal- 
ity, affected to imitate the noble freedom of Cato, 
bade Pompey "stamp upon the ground, and call 
for the armies he had promised." 

Cato then advised that Pompey should not only 
be appointed general, but invested with a discre- 
tionary power, adding, "That those who were the 
authors of great evils knew best how to cure 
them." Pompey, at last, as he could get no cer- 
tain intelligence of Caesar's motions, caused an 
edict to be issued declaring the commonwealth in 
danger and no peace to be expected. He told 
those who wished to remain in the city that he 
should consider them as partisans of Caesar, and 
he and the consuls all fled. 

A few days after Caesar arrived at Rome. 
When he was in possession of the city he behaved 
with great moderation, and composed in a good 
measure the minds of its remaining inhabitants. 
Only when Metellus, one of the tribunes of the 
people, forbade him to touch the money in the 
public treasury, he threatened him with death, 
adding an expression more terrible than the threat 
itself, "That it was easier for him to do it than 
to say it." Metellus being thus frightened off, 
Caesar took what sums he wanted, and then went 
in pursuit of Pompey, hastening to drive him out 
of Italy before his forces could arrive from Spain. 

Pompey, who was master of Brundusium, and 
had a sufficient number of transports, desired the 
consuls to embark without loss of time, and sent 
them before him with thirty cohorts to Dyrrha- 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 147 

chium. At the same time he sent his father-in- 
law, Scipio, and his son, Cnaeus, into Syria to pro- 
vide ships of war. He had well secured the gates 
of the city, and planted the lightest of his slingers 
and archers upon the walls ; and having now 
ordered the Brundusians to keep within doors, he 
caused a number of trenches to be cut, and sharp 
stakes to be driven into them, and then covered 
with earth, in all the streets except two which led 
down to the sea. In three days all his other troops 
were embarked without interruption, and then he 
suddenly gave the signal to those who guarded 
the walls, in consequence of which they ran swiftly 
down to the harbor and got on board. Thus, hav- 
ing his whole complement, he set sail and crossed 
the sea to Dyrrhachium. 

When Caesar came and saw the walls left desti- 
tute of defense he concluded that Pompey had 
taken to flight, and in his eagerness to pursue 
would certainly have fallen upon the sharp stakes 
in the trenches, had not the Brundusians informed 
him of them. He then avoided the streets and 
took a circuit round the town, by which he dis- 
covered that all the vessels were set out except two 
that had not many soldiers aboard. 

This manceuver of Pompey was commonly 
reckoned among his greatest acts of generalship. 
Caesar having thus made himself master of all 
Italy in sixty days without the least bloodshed, 
marched to Spain with the intention of gaining 
forces there. This he did, and incorporated the 
troops with his own. 



148 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

In the meantime Pompey assembled a great 
army, and at sea he was altogether invincible ; for 
he had five hundred ships of war, and the number 
of his lighter vessels was still greater. As for 
his land forces, he had seven thousand horse, the 
flower of Rome and Italy, all men of family, for- 
tune, and courage. His infantry, though numer- 
ous, was a mixture of raw undisciplined soldiers. 
He therefore exercised them during his stay at 
Bercea, where he was by no means idle, but went 
through all the exercises of a soldier as if he had 
been in the flower of his age. It inspired his 
troops with new courage when they saw Pompey 
the Great, at the age of fifty-eight, going through 
the whole military discipline in heavy armor on 
foot, and then mounting his horse, drawing his 
sword with ease when at full speed, and as dex- 
terously sheathing it again. As to the javelin, he 
threw it not only with great exactness, but with 
such force that few of the young men could dart it 
to a greater distance. 

Many kings and princes repaired to his camp, 
and the number of Roman officers who had com- 
manded armies was so great that it was sufficient 
to make up a complete senate. Labienus. who 
had been honored with Caesar's friendship, and 
served under him in Gaul, now joined Pompey. 
On the other hand, Caesar was reduced to such 
straits both by sea and land that he was under the 
necessity of seeking a battle. Accordingly, he 
attacked Pompey's intrenchments and bade him 
defiance daily. In most of these attacks and 



plutarch's lives 149 

skirmishes he had the advantage, but one day he 
was in danger of losing his whole army. Pompey 
fought with so much valor that he put Caesar's 
whole detachment to flight, after having killed 
two thousand of them upon the spot, but was either 
unable or afraid to pursue his blow and enter 
their camp with them. Caesar said to his friends 
on the occasion, "This day the victory had been 
the enemy's had their general known how to con- 
quer. " 

Pompey 's troops, elated with this success, were 
in great haste to come to a decisive battle. Nay, 
Pompey himself seemed to give in to their opin- 
ions by writing to the kings, the generals, and 
cities in his interest in the style of a conqueror. 
Yet all this while he dreaded the issue of a general 
action, believing it much better by length of time, 
by famine and fatigue, to tire out men who had 
been ever invincible in arms, and long accustomed 
to conquer when they fought together. Besides, 
he knew the infirmities of age had made them un- 
fit for the other operations of war, — for long 
marches and countermarches, for digging trenches 
and building forts, and that, therefore, they wished 
for nothing so much as a battle. Pompey, with 
all these arguments, found it no easy matter to 
keep his army quiet. 

Caesar was preparing to march to Scotusa when 
his scouts brought intelligence that they had seen 
arms handed about in the enemy's camp, and per- 
ceived a noise and bustle, which indicated an 
approaching battle. After these others came and 



ISO 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 



assured him that the first ranks were drawn up. 
Upon this Caesar said, "The long-wished day is 
come on which we shall fight with men, and not 
with want and famine." Then he immediately 
ordered the red mantle to be put up before his 
pavilion, which, among the Romans, is the signal 
of a battle. The soldiers no sooner beheld it than 
they left their tents as they were, and ran to arms 
with loud shouts and every expression of joy ; and 
when the officers began to put them in order of 
battle, each man fell into his proper rank as quietly 
and with as much skill and ease as a chorus in a 
tragedy. 

Some of the principal Romans and Greeks who 
only stood and looked on when the dreadful 
moment of action approached, could not help con- 
sidering to what the avarice and ambition of two 
men had brought the Roman Empire. The same 
arms on both sides, the troops marshaled in the 
same manner, the same standards ; in short, the 
strength and flower of one and the same city turned 
upon itself ! What could be a stronger proof of 
the blindness and infatuation of human nature 
when carried away by its passions? Had they 
been willing to enjoy the fruits of their labors in 
peace and tranquillity, the greatest and best part 
of the world was their own. Or, if they must have 
indulged their thirst of victories and triumphs, 
the Parthians and Germans were yet to be sub- 
dued, Scythia and India yet remained ; together 
with a very plausible color for the lust of new 
acquisitions, the pretence of civilizing the barba- 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 151 

rians. And what Scythian horse, what Parthian 
arrows, what Indian treasures, could have resisted 
seventy thousand Romans led on by Pompey and 
Caesar, with whose names those nations had long 
been acquainted? 

The plain of Pharsalia was now covered with 
men and horses and arms, and the signal of battle 
being given on both sides, the first on Caesar's side 
who advanced to the charge was Caius Crastinus, 
who commanded a corps of a hundred and twenty 
men, and was determined to make good his prom- 
ise to his general. He was the first man Caesar 
saw when he went out of the trenches in the morn- 
ing, and upon Caesar's asking him what he thought 
of the battle, he stretched out his hand and 
answered in a cheerful tone, "You will gain a 
glorious victory, and I shali have your praise this 
day either alive or dead. " In pursuance of this 
promise he advanced the foremost, and many 
following to support him, he charged into the 
midst of the enemy. They soon took to their 
swords, and numbers were slain ; but as Crastinus 
was making his way forward, and cutting down 
all before him, one of Pompey 's men stood to re- 
ceive him, and pushed his sword in at his mouth 
with such force that it went through the nape of 
his neck. Crastinus thus killed, the fight was 
maintained with equal advantage on both sides. 

Pompey did not immediately bring on his right 
wing, but often directed his eyes to the left, and 
lost time in waiting to see what execution his 
cavalry would do there. Meanwhile, they had 



152 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

extended their squadrons to surround Caesar, and 
prepared to drive the few horse he had placed in 
front back upon the foot. At that instant Caesar 
gave the signal, upon which his cavalry retreated 
a little, and six cohorts, which consisted of three 
thousand men, and had been placed behind the 
tenth legion, advanced to surround Pompey's 
cavalry, and coming close up to them raised the 
points of their javelins as they had been taught, 
and aimed them at the face. Their adversaries, 
who were not experienced in any kind of fighting, 
and had not the least previous idea of this, could 
not parry or endure the blows upon their faces, 
but turned their backs or covered their eyes with 
their hands, and soon fled with great dishonor. 
Caesar's men took no care to pursue them, but 
turned their force upon the enemy's infantry, par- 
ticularly upon that wing which, now stripped of 
its horse, lay open to the attack on all sides. The 
six cohorts, therefore, took them in flank, while 
the tenth legion charged them in front ; and they 
who had hoped to surround the enemy, and now 
instead of that saw themselves surrounded, made 
but a short resistance, and then took to a precipi- 
tate flight. 

By the great dust that was raised, Pompey saw 
the fate of his cavalry, and it is hard to say what 
passed in his mind at that moment. He appeared 
like a man moon-struck and distracted. When he 
had got at a little distance from the camp he quitted 
his horse. He had very few people about him, 
and as he saw he was not pursued he went softly 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 153 

on, wrapt up in such thoughts as we may suppose 
a man to have who had been used for thirty-four 
years to conquer and carry all before him, and 
now in his old age first came to know what it was 
to be defeated and to fly. We may easily con- 
jecture what his thoughts must have been, when 
in one short hour he had lost the glory and the 
power which had been growing up amidst so many 
wars and conflicts ; and he who was lately 
guarded with such armies of horse and foot, and 
such great and powerful fleets, was reduced to so 
mean and contemptible an equipage that his ene- 
mies who were in search of him could not know him. 

Pompey took refuge in Egypt, but Ptolemy and 
his council were perplexed to know what to do 
with him. They were divided in their opinions, 
some advising the prince to give him an honor- 
able reception, and others to send him an order to 
depart. But Theodotus, to display his eloquence, 
insisted that both were wrong. "If you receive 
him," said he, "you will have Caesar for your 
enemy, and Pompey for your master. If you 
order him off, Pompey may one day revenge the 
affront, and Caesar resent your not having put him 
in his hands. The best method, therefore, is to 
put him to death. By this means you will do 
Caesar a favor, and have nothing to fear from 
Pompey." He added, with a smile, "Dead men 
do not bite. " 

This advice was followed, and Pompey was 
assassinated as he was landing from his galley. 
He was just 59 years old. 



154 PLUTARCH S LIVES 



ALEXANDER. 

Note. — Alexander (Macedonian). Alexander was 
born b.c. 356. His life forms an epoch in the 
history of the world, and no biography can be more 
enthralling and instructive than that which v fol- 
lows. His death, in his thirty-third year, was due 
to inordinate excess in wine-drinking. 

This famous general was descended from Her- 
cules. His father was Philip, King of Macedonia, 
and his mother's name was Olympias. 

The statues of Alexander that most resemble 
him were those of Lysippus, who alone had his 
permission to represent him in marble. The turn 
of his head, which leaned a little to one side, and 
the quickness of his eye, in which many of his 
friends and successors most affected to imitate 
him, were best hit off by that artist. Apelles 
painted him in the character of Jupiter armed 
with thunder, but did not succeed as to his com- 
plexion. He overcharged the coloring, and made 
his skin too brown ; whereas he was fair, with a 
tinge of red in his face and upon his breast. We 
read that a most agreeable scent proceeded from 
his skin, and that his breath and whole body were 
fragrant. There was something superlatively 
great and sublime in his ambition far above his 
years. It was not all sorts of honor that he 
courted, nor did he seek it in every track like his 
father Philip, who was as proud of his eloquence 
as any sophist could be, and who had the vanity 
to record his victories in the Olympic chariot race 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES 155 

in the impression of his coins. Alexander, on the 
other hand, when he was asked by some of the 
people about him, " Whether he would not run in 
the Olympic race ?" (for he was swift of foot) , 
answered, " Yes, if I had kings for my antagonists. " 
It appears that he had a perfect aversion to the 
whole exercise of wrestling ; for though he ex- 
hibited many other sorts of games and public 
diversions in which he proposed prizes for tragic 
poets, for musicians who practised upon the flute 
and lyre, and for rhapsodists too, —though he 
entertained the people with the hunting of all 
manner of wild beasts, and with fencing or fighting 
with the staff, — yet he gave no encouragement to 
boxing or to wrestling. 

When a young horse, named Bucephalus, was 
offered for sale to Philip at the price of thirteen 
talents, the king, with the prince, and many 
others, went into the field to see some trial made 
of him. The horse appeared extremely vicious 
and unmanageable, and Philip was displeased at 
their bringing him so wild and ungovernable a 
horse, and bade them take him away. But Alex- 
ander, who had observed him well, said, "What a 
horse are they losing for want of skill and spirit 
to manage him !" Philip at first took no notice of 
this, but upon the prince's often repeating the 
same expression, and showing great uneasiness, 
he said, "Young man, you find fault with your 
elders as if you knew more than they, or could 
manage the horse better." "And I certainly 
could," answered the prince. "If you should not 



156 plutarch's lives 

be able to ride him, what forfeiture will you sub- 
mit to for your rashness?" "I will pay the price 
of the horse," said Alexander. 

Upon this all the company laughed, but the 
king and prince agreeing as to the forfeiture, 
Alexander ran to the horse, and, laying hold on 
the bridle, turned him to the sun, for he had 
observed, it seems, that the shadow, which fell 
before the horse, and continually moved as he 
moved, greatly disturbed him. While his fierce- 
ness and fury lasted he kept speaking to him softly 
and stroking him ; after which he gently let fall 
Ijiis mantle, leaped lightly upon his back, and got 
a safe seat. Then, without pulling the reins too 
hard, or using either whip or spur, he set him 
going. As soon as he perceived his uneasiness 
abated, and that he wanted only to run, he put 
him to a full gallop, and pushed him on both with 
the voice and the spur. Philip and all his court 
w r ere in great distress for him at first, and a 
profound silence ensued. But when the prince 
had turned him, and brought him straight back, 
they all received Lim with loud acclamations ex- 
cept his father, who wept for joy, and kissing him, 
said, "Seek another kingdom, my son, that may 
be worthy of thy abilities, for Macedonia is too 
small for thee. " 

Alexander loved polite learning, and his thirst 
for knowledge made him a man of extensive read- 
ing. He called the Iliad of Homer a portable 
treasury of military knowledge, and he had a copy 
of the work corrected by Aristotle, which he used 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 157 

to lay beside his sword under his pillow. When 
Philip went on the expedition to Byzantium, Alex- 
ander was but sixteen years of age, but he was 
left Regent of Macedonia and Keeper of the Seal. 

Philip was assassinated when Alexander was 
twenty years old. On succeeding to the crown he 
found the kingdom torn in pieces by dangerous 
parties. Having intelligence that the Thebans 
and Athenians had revolted, he resolved to show 
them that he was no longer a boy, and he imme- 
diately advanced through the Pass of Thermopylae. 
Said he, "Demosthenes called me a boy while I 
was in Illyrium, and a stripling when in Thessaly, 
but I will show him before the walls of Athens 
that I am a man." Thebes was taken, and the 
city plundered and leveled with the ground. 

A general assembly of the Greeks being held at 
the Isthmus of Corinth, they came to a resolution 
to send their quotas with Alexander against 
Darius, king of the Persians, and he was unani- 
mously elected captain-general. Finding that 
Diogenes made but little account of Alexander, 
and that he preferred the enjoyment of his leisure 
in a part of the suburbs called Cranium, he went 
to see him. Diogenes happened to be lying in the 
sun, and, at the approach of so many people, he 
raised himseH up a little and fixed his eyes upon 
Alexander. The king addressed him in an oblig- 
ing manner, and asked him "if there was anything 
he could serve him in?" "Only stand a little out 
of my sunshine," said Diogenes. Alexander, we 
are told, was struck with such surprise at finding 



158 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

himself so little regarded, and saw something so 
great in that carelessness, that, while his courtiers 
were ridiculing the philosopher as a monster, he 
said, " If I were not Alexander I should wish to 
be Diogenes." 

In the meantime Darius' generals had collected 
a great army on the banks of the Granicus. Many 
of Alexander's officers were afraid that the river 
was too deep to ford, but Alexander led the way, 
and managed to struggle across, and fought his 
way up the opposite bank. His army followed 
and defeated the barbarians. They lost in this 
battle twenty thousand foot and two thousand five 
hundred horse ; whereas Alexander had no more 
than thirty-four men killed, nine of whom were 
infantry. To do honor to their memory he erected 
a statue to each of them in brass, the workman- 
ship of Lysippus. And that the Greeks might have 
their share in the glory of the day, he sent them 
presents out of the spoil. To the Athenians in 
particular he sent three hundred bucklers. Upon 
the rest of the spoils he put this pompous inscrip- 
tion : " Won by Alexander, the son of Philip, 
and the Greeks {excepti7ig the Lacedaemonians) 
of the barbarians in Asia." The greatest part of 
the plate, the purple furniture, and other things 
of that kind which he took from the Persians, he 
sent to his mother. 

His next acquisitions were Paphlagonia and 
Cappadocia. By this time Darius had taken his 
departure from Susa, full of confidence in his 
numbers ; for his army consisted of six hundred 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 159 

thousand men. Alexander's progress was stayed 
by sickness. His physicians durst not give him 
any medicines, because they thought themselves 
not so certain of the cure as of the danger they 
must incur in the application. Philip, the Acar- 
nanian, attempted the cure, and found no difficulty 
in persuading the king to wait with patience till 
his medicine was prepared. 

In the mean time, Parmenio sent him a letter 
from the camp, advising him "to beware of Philip, 
whom," he said, "Darius had prevailed upon, by 
presents of infinite value, and the promise of his 
daughter in marriage, to take him off by poison." 
As soon as Alexander had read the letter he put 
it under his pillow, without showing it to any of 
his friends. The time appointed being come, 
Philip, with the king's friends, entered the cham- 
ber, having the cup which contained the medicine, 
in his hand. The king received it freely without 
the least marks of suspicion, and at the same 
time put the letter in Philip's hands. It was a 
striking situation, and more interesting than any 
scene in a tragedy,— the one reading while the 
other was drinking. They looked upon each 
other, but with a very different air. The king, 
with an open and unembarrassed countenance, 
expressed his regard for Philip, and the confi- 
dence he had in his honor; Philip's look showed 
his indignation at the calumny. 

The medicine, indeed, was so strong, and over- 
powered his spirits in such a manner, that at first 
he was speechless, but he was soon relieved, and 



l6o PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

his faithful physician had the gratification of see- 
ing his patient well enough to march against 
Darius, and also to conquer him. The victory 
was a very signal one, for Alexander killed one 
hundred and ten thousand of the enemy, and 
nothing was wanted to complete it but the cap- 
ture of Darius. That prince, however, escaped, 
leaving his wife and family captives. They were 
kindly and honorably treated by the conqueror. 

After this Alexander had some rest, and en- 
joyed his leisure. He was not so much addicted 
to wine as he was thought to be. It was supposed 
so because he passed a great deal of time at table, 
but that time was spent rather in talking than 
drinking, every fresh cup introducing some long 
discourse. Besides, he never made these long 
meals but when he had abundance of leisure upon 
.his hands. When business called he was not to 
be detained by wine, nor sleep, nor pleasure, nor 
honorable love, nor the most entertaining spec- 
tacle. On his leisure days, as soon as he was 
risen he sacrificed to the gods, after which he took 
his dinner sitting. The rest of the day he spent 
in hunting, or deciding the differences among his 
troops, or in reading and writing. If he was upon 
a march which did not require haste he would ex- 
ercise himself in shooting and darting the javelin, 
or in mounting and alighting from a chariot at full 
speed. Sometimes also he diverted himself with 
fowling and fox-hunting. On his return to his 
quarters, when he went to be refreshed with the 
bath and with oil, he inquired of the stewards of 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES l6l 

his kitchen whether they had prepared everything 
in a handsome manner for supper. It was not till 
late in the evening, and when night was come on, 
that he took his meal, and then he ate in a re- 
cumbent posture. He was very attentive to his 
guests at table, that they might be served equally, 
and none neglected. 

The siege of Tyre next occupied his attention ; 
and having taken it, he marched to Syria, and 
laid siege to Gaza, the capital of that country, 
and took the city. He sent most of its spoils to 
Olympias and Cleopatra, and others of his friends. 
His tutor, Leonidas, was not forgotten; and the 
present he made him had something particular in 
it. It consisted of five hundred talents weight of 
frankincense, and a hundred talents of myrrh, 
and was sent upon the recollection of the hopes 
he had conceived when a boy. It seems Leonidas 
one day had observed Alexander, at a sacrifice, 
throwing incense into the fire by handfuls ; upon 
which he said, "Alexander, when you have con- 
quered the country where spices grow, you may 
be thus liberal of your incense ; but, in the mean 
time, use what you have more sparingly." He, 
therefore, wrote thus : — " I have sent you frankin- 
cense and myrrh in abundance, that you may be 
no longer a churl to the gods." 

A casket being one day brought him, which ap- 
peared to be one of the most curious and valuable 
among the treasures of Darius, he asked his friends 
what they thought most worthy to be put in it. 
Different things were proposed ; but he said, 
ii 



I 62 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

"The Iliad most deserved such a casket. " And if 
what the Alexandrians say be true, Homer was 
no bad auxiliary or useless counselor in the 
course of the war. They tell us that when Alex- 
ander had conquered Egypt, and had determined 
to build there a great city, which was to be peopled 
with Greeks, and called Alexandria, after his own 
name, he traveled to Pharos, which at that time 
was an island lying a little above the Canobic 
mouth of the Nile, but now is joined to the main- 
land by a causeway. He no sooner cast his eyes 
upon the place than he perceived the commodious- 
ness of the situation. On one side it has a great 
lake, and on the other the sea, which there forms 
a capacious harbor. He ordered a city to be 
planned on the ground ; but for want of chalk 
the architects made use of flour of wheat, which 
answered well enough upon a black soil, but while 
the king was enjoying the design, a large number 
of birds of all kinds settled down on the lines, and 
ate up all the flour. Alexander was disturbed at 
the omen, but his diviners encouraged him to go 
on with the work by assuring him that it was a 
sign that the city he was going to build would be 
blessed with such plenty as to furnish a supply to 
all the nations which should repair to it. After 
marching across the desert, he returned to Mace- 
donia. There he received a letter from Darius, 
in which that prince proposed, on condition of a 
pacification and future friendship, to pay him ten 
thousand talents in ransom of the prisoners ; to 
cede to him all the countries on this side the 



plutarch's lives 163 

Euphrates ; and to give him his daughter in mar- 
riage. Upon his communicating these proposals 
to his friends, Parmenio said, "If I were Alexan- 
der, I should accept them." "So would I," said 
Alexander, "if I were Parmenio." The answer 
he gave to Darius was, " If you will come to me, you 
shall find the best of treatment ; if not, I must go 
and seek you. " He therefore set off to seek for 
Darius, and, coming up with him, both sides pre- 
pared for the fight. 

The great battle between Alexander and Darius 
was not fought at Arbela, as most historians will 
have it, but at Gangamela, which, in the Persian 
tongue, is said to signify the house of the camel ; 
so called because one of the ancient kings, having 
escaped his enemies by the swiftness of his camel, 
placed her there, and appointed the revenue of cer- 
tain villages for her maintenance. 

In the month of September there happened an 
eclipse of the moon, about the beginning of the 
festival of the great mysteries at Athens. The 
eleventh night after that eclipse, the two armies 
being in view of each other, Darius kept his men 
under arms, and took a general review of his 
troops by torchlight. Meantime Alexander suf- 
fered his Macedonians to repose themselves, and 
with his soothsayer Aristander performed some 
private ceremonies before his tent, and offered 
sacrifices to Fear. The oldest of his friends, and 
Parmenio in particular, when they beheld the plain 
between Niphates and the Gordaean Mountains all 
illuminated with the torches of the barbarians, 



164 plutarch's lives 

and heard the tumultuous and appalling noise 
from their camp like the roarings of an immense 
sea, were astonished at their numbers, and ob- 
served among themselves how arduous an enter- 
prise it would be to meet such a torrent of war in 
open day. • They waited upon the king, therefore, 
when he had finished the sacrifice, and advised 
him to attack the enemy in the night, when dark- 
ness would hide what was most dreadful in the 
combat. Upon which he gave them that cele- 
brated answer, "I will not steal a victory." 

When the morning came, after sacrificing, 
Alexander put on his helmet, being otherwise 
ready armed. He wore a short coat of the Sicilian 
fashion girt close about him, and over that a 
breastplate of linen strongly quilted, which was 
found among the spoils at the battle of Issus. 
His helmet was of iron, but so well polished that 
it shone like the brightest silver. To this was 
fitted a gorget of the same metal, set with pre- 
cious stones. His sword, the weapon he generally 
used in battle, was a present from the king of the 
Citieans, and could not be excelled for lightness 
or for temper. But the belt which he wore in all 
engagements was more superb than the rest of his 
armor. It was given him by the Rhodians as a 
mark of their respect, and old Helicon had exerted 
all his art on it. In drawing up his army and giv- 
ing orders, as well as exercising and reviewing it, 
he spared Bucephalus on account of his age, and 
rode another horse ; but he constantly charged on 
him. and Alexander had no sooner mounted him 



plutarch's lives 165 

than the signal for battle was always given. In 
the battle Darius was beaten, and had to fly; and 
his grand army was totally routed. Alexander 
was acknowledged king of all Asia. 

Having nothing to occupy them, Alexander 
found that his great officers set no bounds to 
their luxury ; that they were most extravagantly 
delicate in their diet, and profuse in other re- 
spects ; insomuch that Agnon of Teos wore silver 
nails in his shoes ; Leonatus had many camel- 
loads of earth brought from Egypt to rub himself 
with when he went to the wrestling ring ; Philotas 
had hunting nets that would inclose the space of 
a hundred furlongs ; more made use of rich es- 
sences than oil after bathing, and had their 
grooms of the bath, as well as chamberlains who 
excelled in bed-making. This degeneracy he re- 
proved with all the temper of a philosopher. He 
told them it was very strange to him that, after 
having undergone so many glorious conflicts, they 
did not remember that those who come from labor 
and exercise always sleep more sweetly than the 
inactive and effeminate ; and that in comparing 
the Persian manners with the Macedonian they 
did not perceive that nothing was more servile 
than the love of pleasure, or more princely than a 
life of toil. "How will that man," continued he, 
"take care of his own horse, or furbish his lance 
and helmet, whose hands are too delicate to wait 
on his own dear person? Know you not that the 
end of conquest is, not to do what the conquered 
have done, but something greatly superior?" 



1 66 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

When Alexander inarched against Darius again, 
he expected another battle ; but the Persian mon- 
arch fled. The pursuit was long and laborious ; 
for he rode 3,300 furlongs in eleven days.* They 
were all eager to keep up with Alexander, but 
only sixty men were able to keep up with him till 
he reached the enemy's camp. There they rode 
over the gold and silver that lay scattered about, 
and passing by a number of carriages which were 
in motion, full of women and children, but with- 
out charioteers, they hastened to the leading 
squadrons, not doubting that they should find 
Darius among them. At last, after much search, 
they found him extended on his chariot and 
pierced with many darts. Though he was near 
his last moments he had strength to ask for some- 
thing to quench his thirst. A Macedonian, named 
Polystratus, brought him some cold water, and 
when he had drank, he said, "Friend, this fills up 
the measure of my misfortunes, to think I am not 
able to reward thee for this act of kindness. But 
Alexander will not let thee go without a recom- 
pense ; and the gods will reward him for his hu- 
manity to my mother, to my wife, and children. 
Tell him I gave him my hand, for I give it thee 
in his stead." So saying, he took the hand of 
Polystratus, and immediately expired. When 
Alexander came up he showed his concern for 
that event by the strongest expressions, and cov- 
ered the body with his own robe. As for the body of 
Darius, he ordered it should have all the honors of a 
royal funeral, and sent it embalmed to his mother. 
* Three hundred miles. 



plutarch's lives 167 

As to the war with the Indian prince Porus, it 
was carried on with the usual extraordinary 
energy. Most historians agree that Porus was 
four cubits and a span high ; and that, though the 
elephant he rode was one of the largest, his 
stature and bulk were such that he appeared but 
proportionably mounted. This elephant, during 
the whole battle, gave extraordinary proofs of his 
sagacity and care of the king's person. As long 
as that prince was able to fight he defended him 
with great courage, and repulsed all assailants; 
and when he perceived him ready to sink under 
the multitude of darts and the wounds with which 
he was covered, to prevent his falling off he 
kneeled down in the softest manner and with his 
proboscis gently- drew every dart out of his 
body. 

In the battle with Porus, Alexander's favorite 
horse, Bucephalus received several wounds, of 
which he afterward died, being thirty years old. 
Alexander showed as much regret as if he had lost 
a faithful friend and companion — he esteemed 
him, indeed, as such — and built a city near the 
Hydaspes, in the place where he was buried, 
which he called after him, Bucephalia. He is 
also reported to have built a city and called it 
Peritas, in memory of a dog of that name which 
he had brought up and was very fond of. 

The Macedonians refused to follow Alexander 
to the banks of the Ganges, which grieved him 
greatly, and he was very indignant, considering 
that a retreat was nothing less than an acknowledg- 



1 68 Plutarch's lives 

ment that he was overcome. On his return march 
he attacked many cities, and was always victori- 
ous. He was, however, very near being cut in 
pieces by the Malli, who were called the most 
warlike people in India. He had driven some of 
them from the walls of their city with his missive 
weapons, and was the first man that ascended it. 
But presently, after he was up, the scaling-ladder 
broke. Finding himself and his small company 
much galled by the darts of the barbarians from 
below, he poised himself and leaped down into 
the midst of the enemy. By good fortune he fell 
upon his feet, and the barbarians were so aston- 
ished at the flashing of his arms as he came down 
that they thought they beheld lightning or some 
supernatural splendor issuing from his body. At 
first, therefore, they drew back and dispersed ; 
but when they had collected themselves, and saw 
him attended only by two of his guards, they at- 
tacked him hand to hand, and wounded him 
through his armor with their swords and spears, 
notwithstanding the valor with which he fought. 
One of them standing farther off, drew an arrow 
with such strength that it made its way through 
his cuirass, and entered the ribs under the breast. 
Its force was so great that he was brought upon 
his knees, and the barbarian ran up with his drawn 
scimiter to dispatch him, when Peucestes and 
Limnaeus placed themselves before him ; but the 
one was wounded and the other killed. Peuces- 
tes, who survived, was still making some resist- 
ance, when Alexander recovered himself and laid 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES 169 

the barbarian at his feet. The king, however, 
received new wounds ; and at last had such a blow 
from a bludgeon upon his neck that he was forced 
to support himself by the wall, and there stood 
with his face to the enemy. The Macedonians, 
who by this time had got in, gathered about him, 
and carried him off to his tent. He had lost his 
senses, and it was the current report in the army 
that he was dead. "When they had with great 
difficulty sawn off the shaft of the arrow, and with 
equal trouble had taken off the cuirass, they pro- 
ceeded to extract the arrow head, which stuck 
fast in the bone. Alexander fainted under the 
operation, and was very near expiring; but when 
the head was got out he recovered. 

His next expedition was to Persia, and the first 
thing he did on entering that kingdom was to give 
money to the matrons, according to the ancient 
custom of the kings, who, upon their return to 
their Persian dominions from any excursion, used 
to give every woman a piece of gold. Having 
found the tomb of Cyrus broken open, he put the 
author of that sacrilege to death, though a native 
of Pella, and a person of some distinction. His 
name was Polymachus. After he had read the 
epitaph, which was in the Persian language, he 
ordered it to be inscribed also in Greek. It was 
as follows : — O mail ! whosoever thou art, and 
whence soever thou contest, for come I know thou 
wilt, I am Cyrus, the founder of the Persian 
Empire. Envy me not the little earth that 
covers my body. Alexander was much affected at 



T70 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

these words, which placed before him in so strong 
a light the vicissitudes of fortune. 

When he came to Ecbatana in Media, and had 
dispatched the most urgent affairs, he employed 
himself again in the celebration of games and other 
public solemnities ; for which purpose three thou- 
sand artificers, lately arrived from Greece, were 
very serviceable to him. But unfortunately He- 
phaestion fell sick of a fever in the midst of this 
festivity. As a young man and a soldier he could 
not bear to be kept to strict diet, and taking the 
opportunity to dine when his physician Glaucus 
was gone to the theater, he ate a roasted fowl, 
and drank a flagon of wine made as cold as possi- 
ble ; in consequence of which he grew worse and 
died a few days after. Alexander's grief on this 
occasion exceeded all bounds. He immediately 
ordered the horses and mules to be shorn, that they 
might have their share in the mourning, and with 
the same view pulled down the battlements of the 
neighboring cities, and he crucified the poor phy- 
sician. 

When once Alexander had given himself up to 
superstition his mind was so preyed upon by vain 
fears and anxieties that he turned the least inci- 
dent which was anything strange and out of the 
way into a sign or a portent. The Court swarmed 
with sacrificers, purifiers, and prognosticators ; 
they were all to be seen exercising their talents 
there. So true it is, that though the disbelief of 
religion and contempt of things divine is a great 
evil, yet superstition is a greater; for as water 



plutarch's lives 171 

gains upon low grounds, so superstition prevails 
over a dejected mind, and fills it with fear and 
folly. This was entirely Alexander's case. How- 
ever, upon the receipt of some oracles concerning 
Hephaestion from the god he commonly consulted, 
he gave a truce to his sorrows, and employed him- 
self in festive sacrifices and entertainments. 

One day, after he had given Nearchus a sump- 
tuous treat, he went, according to custom, to re- 
fresh himself in the bath in order to retire to rest. 
But, in the meantime, Medius came and invited 
him to take part in a carousal, and he could not 
deny him. There he drank all that night and the 
next day, till at last he found a fever coming upon 
him. He then took a draft of wine which threw 
him into a frenzy, and he died on the 30th June, 
b.c. 323. 

JULIUS CiESAR. 

Note. — Julius C^sar (Roman). This man, one of 
the greatest in all history, was born b.c. ioo, and 
was descended from the Julian family. When only 
sixteen years old, he lost his father who was Prae- 
tor. Some time later, Caesar married Cornelia, 
daughter of Lucius Cinna. This so offended Sylla 
that he secured the proscription of Caesar, unwil- 
lingly releasing him some time later from the 
effects of the decree. The career of Caesar is fully 
told by Plutarch. 

The earliest incident in the life of Julius Caesar 
was his capture by pirates. They demanded a 
ransom of only twenty talents, which he soon ob- 
tained, but immediately manned some vessels and 



172 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

attacked the corsairs, He captured and crucified 
the whole of them. 

When the power of Sylla began to decline, 
Caesar's friends pressed him to return to Rome. 
But he first went to Rhodes to study under Apol- 
lonius, the son of Molon, who taught rhetoric 
there. Cicero also was one of his scholars. Caesar 
is said to have had happy talents from nature for 
a public speaker, and he did not lack the ambition 
to cultivate them ; so that undoubtedly he was the 
second orator in Rome, and he might have been 
the first had he not rather chosen pre-eminence in 
arms. Hence it was that afterward, in his Anti- 
Cato, which he wrote in answer to a book of 
Cicero's, he desired his readers — "Not to expect, 
in the performance of a military man, the style of 
a complete orator who had bestowed all his time 
upon such studies. " 

When Caesar had been elected Praetor, the gov- 
ernment of Spain was allotted to him. But his 
circumstances were so indifferent, and his credi- 
tors so clamorous and troublesome, that when he 
was preparing for his departure he was forced to 
apply to Crassus, the richest man in Rome, who 
stood in need of Caesar's warmth and vigor to 
keep up the balance of power against Pompey. 
Crassus, therefore, took upon him to pay the most 
inexorable of his creditors, and became responsi- 
ble for eight hundred and thirty talents, which pro- 
cured for Caesar liberty to set out for his province. 

On his return to Rome he went to work upon an 
expedient which deceived all the world except 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 1 73 

Cato. It was the reconciliation of Pompey and 
Crassus, two of the most powerful men in Rome. 
By making them friends Caesar secured to himself 
the interest of both. And while he seemed to be 
only doing an office of humanity he was undermin- 
ing the constitution. Caesar and Pompey first 
combined to ruin the authority of the senate ; and 
when that was effected, they parted to pursue 
each his own designs. Cato, who often prophesied 
what would be the consequence, was then looked 
upon as a troublesome and over-busy man ; but 
afterward he was esteemed a wise though not 
a fortunate counselor. 

As a warrior Caesar was not in the least inferior 
to the greatest and most admired commanders the 
world ever produced ; for whether we compare 
him with the Fabii, the Scipios, and Metelli, with 
the generals of his own time, or with those who 
flourished a little before him, as Sylla, Marius, 
the two Luculli, or with Pompey himself, whose 
fame in every military excellence reached the 
skies, Caesar's achievements bear away the palm. 
One he surpassed in the difficulty of the scene of 
action ; another, in the extent of the countries he 
subdued ; this, in the number and strength of the 
enemies he overcame ; that, in the savage man- 
ners and treacherous disposition of the people he 
humanized. One he excelled in mildness and 
clemency to his prisoners ; another, in bounty and 
munificence to his troops ; and all, in the number 
of battles that he won and the enemies he killed. 
For in the war in Gaul, in less than ten years, 



174 plutarch's lives 

he took eight hundred cities by assault, conquered 
three hundred states, and fought pitched battles, 
at different times, with three millions of men ; 
one million of which he destroyed, and made an- 
other million prisoners. Such, moreover, was 
the affection of his soldiers, and their attachment 
to his person, that they, who under other com- 
manders were nothing above the common rate of 
men, became invincible where Caesar's glory was 
concerned, and they met the most dreadful dan- 
gers with a courage that nothing could resist. 
He seemed to know no fear, and his patience was 
astounding, especially as he was of a delicate 
constitution and subject to violent headaches and 
epileptic fits. He did not, however, make these 
disorders a pretence for indulging himself. On 
the contrary, he sought in war a remedy for his 
infirmities, endeavoring to strengthen his consti- 
tution by long marches, by simple diet, and by 
seldom going under cover. Upon a march, when 
he slept it was commonly either in a chariot or a 
litter, that rest might be no hindrance to business. 
In the day-time he visited the castles, cities, and 
fortified camps, with his servant at his side, whom 
he employed, on such occasions, to write for him, 
and with a soldier behind who carried his sword. 
By these means he traveled so fast, and with so 
little interruption, as to reach the Rhone in eight 
days after his first setting out for those parts from 
Rome. He was a good horseman from his early 
years, and brought that exercise to such perfection 
by practice that he could sit a horse at full speed 



plutarch's lives 175 

with his hands behind him. In this expedition he 
also accustomed himself to dictate letters as he 
rode on horseback, and found sufficient employ- 
ment for two secretaries at once, or, according 
to Oppius, for more. It is also said that Caesar 
was the first who contrived to communicate his 
thoughts by letter to his friends who were in the 
same city with him, when any urgent affair re- 
quired it, and the multiplicity of business or great 
extent of the city did not admit of an interview. 

Of his indifference with respect to diet we have 
this remarkable proof : — Happening to sup with 
Valerius Leo, a friend of his, at Milan, there was 
sweet ointment poured upon the asparagus instead 
of oil. Caesar ate of it freely notwithstanding, 
and afterward rebuked his friends for expressing 
their dislike of it. "It was enough," said he, "to 
forbear eating if it was disagreeable to you. He 
who finds fault with any rusticity is himself a 
rustic." Caesar was very anxious to be the first 
man who should cross the Rhine in a hostile man- 
ner, and, in spite of the Germans who inhabited 
the banks of the river, he took his army over and 
laid the country waste. 

But his expedition into Britain discovered the 
most daring spirit of enterprise, for he was the 
first who entered the Western ocean with a fleet, 
and having embarked his troops on the Atlantic, 
he carried war into an island whose very existence 
was doubted. Some writers had represented it 
as incredibly large, and others contested its being. 
Yet Caesar attempted to conquer it, and to extend 



176 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

the Roman Empire beyond the bounds of the 
known world. He sailed twice from the opposite 
coast in Gaul to Britain, and fought many battles, 
by which the Britons suffered more than the 
Romans gained ; for there was nothing worth tak- 
ing from a people who were so poor and lived in 
so much wretchedness. He did not, however, 
terminate the war in the manner he could have 
wished ; he only received hostages of the King of 
Britain, and appointed the tribute the island was 
to pay, and then returned to Rome. 

Caesar had long resolved to ruin Pompey, and 
Pompey to destroy Caesar. For Crassus, who 
alone could have taken up the conqueror, being 
killed in the Parthian war, there remained noth- 
ing for Caesar to do, to make himself the greatest 
of mankind, but to annihilate him who was so ; 
nor for Pompey to prevent it, but to take oft the 
man he feared. By long service and great 
achievements in the wars of Gaul he had so im- 
proved his army, and his own reputation too, that 
he was considered as on a footing with Pompey ; 
and he found pretenses for carrying his enterprise 
into execution in the times of the misgovernment 
at Rome. These were partly furnished by Pom- 
pey himself ; and, indeed, all ranks of men were 
so corrupted that tables were publicly set out 
upon which the candidates for offices were pro- 
fessedly ready to pay the people the price of their 
votes ; and the people came not only to give their 
voices for the man who had bought them, but with 
all manner of offensive weapons to fight for him. 



PLUTARCH S LIVES I 77 

Hence it often happened that they did not part 
without polluting the tribunal with blood and 
murder, and the city was a perpetual scene of 
anarchy. 

When Caesar and Pompey had each raised a 
large army, and several fruitless attempts had 
been made to reconcile them, Caesar at last pro- 
posed to lay down his arms on condition that 
Pompey should do the same. The question was 
put to the senate, but they could come to no con- 
clusion, and on account of this unhappy discus- 
sion all ranks of people put on black as in a time 
of public mourning. Civil war soon broke out in 
Rome, and Caesar determined to march his army 
toward the city. When he arrived at the banks 
of the Rubicon, .the river which divides Cisalpine 
Gaul from the rest of Italy, his reflections became 
more interesting in proportion as the danger drew 
near. Staggered by the greatness of his attempt, 
he stopped to weigh with himself its inconve- 
niences, and, as he stood considering the argu- 
ments on both sides, he many times changed his 
opinion. After which he deliberated upon it with 
such of his friends as were by, enumerating the 
calamities which the passage of that river would 
bring upon the world, and the reflections that 
might be made by posterity upon it. At last, 
upon some sudden impulse, bidding adieu to his 
reasonings, and plunging into the abyss of futu- 
rity, in the words of those who embark in doubtful 
and arduous enterprises, he cried out, "The die is 
cast!" and immediately passed the Rubicon. 

12 



178 plutarch's lives 

Pompey fled, closely pursued by Caesar, and in 
the short space of sixty days the latter found him- 
self master of the whole of Italy without having 
spilled one drop of blood. Then finding Rome in 
.a more settled condition than he expected, and 
-many senators there, he addressed them in a mild 
and gracious manner, and desired them to send 
deputies to Pompey to offer honorable terms of 
peace. But not one of them would take upon him 
the commission. As Metellus, the tribune, op- 
posed his taking money out of the public treasury, 
and alleged some laws against it, Caesar said, 
"Arms and laws do not flourish together. If you 
are not pleased at what I am about, you have 
nothing to do but to withdraw ; indeed, war will 
not bear much liberty of speech. When I say 
this, I am departing from my own right ; for you, 
and all whom I have found exciting a spirit of 
faction against me, are at my disposal." Saying 
this, he approached the doors of the treasury, and 
as the keys were not produced he sent for work- 
men to break the doors open. Caesar then re- 
sumed his march against Pompey, and after a 
desperate battle at Pharsalia completely routed 
him. 

When Caesar reached Alexandria he found that 
Pompey had been assassinated. During his stay 
in Egypt he was forced to burn his ships to pre- 
vent their falling into the hands of the enemy, and 
the flames unfortunately spread from the dock to 
the palace, and the great Alexandrian library was 
burned. Subsequently, in a sea fight near the 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 179 

isle of Pharos, seeing his men hard-pressed, he 
leaped into a little skiff to go to their assistance. 
The Egyptians making up on all sides, he threw 
himself into the sea, and with much difficulty 
reached his galleys by swimming. Having several 
valuable papers, which he was not willing either 
to lose or to wet, it is said he held them above 
water with one hand, and swam with the other. 
At last Caesar attacked and defeated the king. 
Great numbers of the Egyptians were slain, and 
the king was heard of no more. This gave Caesar 
an opportunity of establishing Cleopatra as Queen 
of Egypt. 

He then departed for Syria, and from thence 
marched into Asia Minor. Caesar immediately 
marched against Pharnaces with three legions, and 
defeated him in a great battle near Zela, which 
deprived him of the kingdom of Pontus, as well 
as ruined his whole army. In the account he gave 
Amintius, one of his friends in Rome, of the 
rapidity and dispatch with which he gained his 
victory, he made use only of three words, " Veni, 
vidi, vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered). Their 
having all the same form and termination in the 
Roman language adds grace to their concise- 
ness. 

Caesar, after his return from Africa to Rome, 
spoke in high terms of his victory to the people. 
He told them he had subdued a country so exten- 
sive that it would bring yearly into the public 
stores two hundred thousand Attic measures of 
wheat, and three million of pounds of oil. After 



180 plutarch's lives 

this he led up his several triumphs over Egypt, 
Pontus, and Africa. 

Soon after he had been elected consul the fourth 
time, the first thing he undertook was to march 
into Spain against the sons of Pompey, who, 
though young, had assembled a numerous army, 
and showed a courage worthy the command they 
had undertaken. The great battle which put a 
period to that war was fought under the walls of 
Munda. Caesar at first saw his men so hard- 
pressed, and making so feeble a resistance, that 
he ran through the ranks amidst the swords and 
spears, crying, "Are you not ashamed to deliver 
your general into the hands of boys?" The great 
and vigorous efforts this reproach produced at last 
made the enemy turn their backs, and there were 
more than thirty thousand of them slain ; whereas 
Caesar lost only a thousand, but those were some 
of the best men he had. As he retired after the 
battle he told his friends—" He had often fought 
for victory, but that was the first time he had 
fought for his life." 

The younger of Pompey'ssons made his escape; 
the other was taken a few days after by Didius, 
who brought his head to Caesar. 

This was the last of his wars ; and his triumph 
on account of it gave the Romans more pain than 
any other step he had taken. He did not now 
mount the car for having conquered foreign gen- 
erals or barbarian kings, but for ruining the chil- 
dren and destroying the race of one of the great- 
est men Rome had ever produced ; and all the 



plutarch's lives 181 

world condemned his triumphing in the calamities 
of his country. 

Amongst many important things which Caesar 
did, it should not be forgotten that he completed 
the regulation of the calendar, and corrected the 
erroneous computations of time. 

The principal cause of the public hatred against 
him was his passion for the title of king. He 
also treated the tribunes with great indignity, till 
at last a conspiracy was formed to kill him. One 
day, when Csesar entered the senate house, the 
senators rose up to do him honor as usual ; but 
the conspirators surrounded him with drawn 
swords. Casca gave the first blow ; many others 
followed ; for it had been agreed that all should 
share in the deed. Therefore Brutus himself gave 
him a stroke in the groin. Some say he opposed 
the rest, and continued struggling and crying out 
till he perceived the sword of Brutus ; then he 
drew his robe over his face and yielded to his 
fate. Either by accident, or pushed thither by 
the conspirators, he expired on the pedestal of 
Pompey's statue, and dyed it with his blood : so 
that Pompey seemed to preside over the work of 
vengeance, to tread his enemy under his feet, and 
to enjoy his agonies. Those agonies were great, 
for he received no less than three -and -twenty 
wounds. Caesar died at the age of fifty- six, b. c. 44. 



1 32 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 



PHOCION. 

Note. — Phocion (Greek). Phocion was born about 
B.C. 400. What more striking proof of his success 
as a soldier need be asked than the fact that he 
was appointed general forty-five times ? His 
private character was stainless, but his political 
course was infamous. 

When Phocion was very young he was in tuition 
with Plato, and afterward with Xenocrates in the 
academy ; and from the very first he distinguished 
himself by his strong application to the most val- 
uable studies. If he made an excursion into the 
country, or marched out to war, he went always 
barefooted, and without his upper garment too, 
except it happened to be intolerably cold ; and 
then his soldiers used to laugh, and say, "It is a 
sign of a sharp winter ; Phocion has got his clothes 
on. " He was one of the most humane and best- 
tempered men in the world, and yet he had so ill- 
natured and forbidding a look that strangers were 
afraid to address him without company. There- 
fore, when Chares, the orator, observed to the 
Athenians what terrible brows Phocion had, and 
they could not help making themselves merry, he 
said, "This brow of mine never gave one of you 
an hour of sorrow ; but the laughter of these 
sneerers has cost their country many a tear. " In 
like manner, though the measures he proposed 
were happy ones, and his counsels of the most 
salutary kind, yet he used no flowers of rhetoric ; 
his speeches were concise, commanding, and 
severe. For, as Zeno rightly says, a philosopher 



plutarch's lives 183 

should never let a word come out of his mouth 
that is not strongly tinctured with sense ; so 
Phocion's oratory contained the most sense in the 
fewest words. And it seems that Polyeuctus had 
this in view when he said, "Demosthenes was the 
better orator, and Phocion the more persuasive 
speaker. " His speeches were to be estimated like 
coins, not for the size, but for the intrinsic value. 
The general amiability of his character obtained 
for him the surname of "The Good." He was a 
capable general ; but his enemies conspired against 
him and accused him of treason. He was ordered 
to be poisoned with several other Athenians. 

When they came to drink the poison, the quan- 
tity proved insufficient, and the executioner re- 
fused to prepare more unless he had twelve 
drachmas paid him. As this occasioned a trou- 
blesome delay, Phocion called one of his friends, 
and said, "Since one cannot die free of cost at 
Athens, give the man his money. " This execution 
was on the 19th day of April, B.C. 318. 

CATO, THE YOUNGER. 

Note.— Cato, the Younger (Roman). Cato the 
Younger was born b.c. 95, and began his military 
career b.c. 72 as volunteer. He was elected 
quaestor b.c 65. Before stabbing himself to death, 
as related below, he withdrew to his chamber and 
read Plato's dialogue on "the Immortality of the 
Soul." 

We are told that Cato from his infancy showed 
in his voice, his look, and his very diversions, a 
firmness and solidity which neither passion nor 



184 plutarch's lives 

anything else could move. He pursued every 
object he had in view with a vigor far above his 
years, and a resolution that nothing could resist. 
Those who were inclined to flatter were sure to 
meet with a severe repulse ; and to those who 
attempted to intimidate him he was still more in- 
tractable. Scarcely anything could make him 
laugh, and it was but rarely that his countenance 
was softened to a smile. He was not quickly or 
easily moved to anger ; but it was difficult to ap- 
pease his resentment when once excited. 

His apprehension was slow, and his learning 
came with difficulty ; but what he had once learned 
he long retained. The inflexibility of his disposi- 
tion seems to have retarded his progress in learn- 
ing. Yet Cato is said to have been very obedient 
to his preceptor, and to have done whatever he 
was commanded ; only he would always inquire the 
reason, and ask why such and such a thing was 
enjoined. Indeed, Sarpedon, his preceptor, was 
a man of engaging manners, who chose rather to 
govern by reason than by violence. Cato was 
very fond of his brother Csepio, and was never 
happy but when he was by his side. 

To strengthen his constitution, he practiced the 
most laborious exercises. He accustomed him- 
self to go bareheaded in the hottest and coldest 
weather, and traveled on foot at all seasons of 
the year. His friends who traveled with him 
made use of horses, and he joined sometimes one 
and sometimes another for conversation as he 
went along. In time of sickness his patience and 



plutarch's lives 185 

abstinence were extraordinary. If he happened 
to have a fever he spent the whole day alone, 
suffering no person to approach him till he found 
a sensible change for the better. At entertain- 
ments they threw the dice for the choice of the 
messes ; and if Cato lost the first choice, his friends 
used to offer it him, but he always refused it. 

By the death of a cousin he came into a large 
estate ; and when his friends wanted to borrow he 
lent them money without interest; and when the 
borrowers exhausted his ready money, he mort- 
gaged his own slaves and his land to enable him- 
self to continue lending. 

Cato prided himself in being a Stoic, and took 
great delight in studying Plato's works. Toward 
the close of his life his mind seemed to give way, 
and he stabbed himself when he was about 50 
years old, b.c. 46. 

AGIS. 

Note. — Agis (Spartan). The name of Agis was borne 
by four kings of Sparta. The son of Eudamides 
was a lineal descendant of Agesilaus. His death 
occurred b.c. 241. 

Agis was a celebrated king of Sparta, the son of 
Eudamides. He excelled almost all the kings 
who reigned before him since the great Agesilaus 
in goodness of disposition and dignity of mind. 
For though brought up in the greatest affluence, 
and in all the indulgence that might be expected 
from female tuition under his mother Agesistrata 
and his grandmother Archidamia, who were the 



1 86 Plutarch's lives 

richest persons in Lacedaemonia, yet before he 
reached the age of twenty he declared war against 
pleasure. To prevent any vanity which the 
beauty of his person might have suggested he dis- 
carded all unnecessary ornament and expense, 
and constantly appeared in a plain Lacedaemonian 
cloak. In his diet, his bathing, and in all his ex- 
ercises, he kept close to the Spartan simplicity ; 
and he often used to say that he only wanted the 
crown that it might enable him to restore the 
laws and ancient discipline of his country. 

When he ascended the throne he strove hard to 
improve the condition of the Spartans, and won 
the affections of his people ; but his success only 
provoked the ephori to oppose his measures. One 
of them, Leonidas by name, raised a conspiracy 
against him, and one day he was arrested by ar- 
rangement near the prison. At the same time, 
Demochares, who was a tall, strong man, wrapped 
his cloak about the king's head, and dragged him 
off. The rest, as they had previously concerted 
the thing, pushed him on behind ; and no one 
coming to his rescue or assistance, he was com- 
mitted to prison. 

Leonidas presently came with a strong band of 
mercenaries to secure the prison without ; and the 
ephori entered it with such senators as were of 
their party. They began, as in a judicial process, 
with demanding what he had to say in defense of 
his proceedings ; and as the young prince only 
laughed at their dissimulation, Amphares told 
him "they would soon make him weep for his 



plutarch's lives 187 

presumption." Another of the ephori, seeming 
inclined to put him in a way of excusing himself 
and getting off, asked him, "Whether Lysander 
and Agesilaus had not forced him into the meas- 
ures he took?" But Agis- answered, "I was 
forced by no man ; it was my attachment to the 
institutions of Lycurgus, and my desire to imitate 
him, which made me adopt his form of govern- 
ment." Then the same magistrate demanded, 
"Whether he repented of what he had done?" and 
his answer was, "I shall never repent of so glori- 
ous a design, though I see death before my eyes." 
Upon this they passed sentence of death upon 
him, and commanded the officers to carry him into 
the decade, which is a small apartment in the 
prison where they strangle malefactors. But the 
officers durst not touch him, and the mercenaries 
declined to do so; for they thought it impious 
to lay violent hands on a king. Demochares, 
seeing this, loaded them with reproaches, and 
threatened to punish them. At the same time he 
laid hold on Agis himself, and thrust him into the 
dungeon. 

By this time it was generally known that Agis 
was taken into custody, and there was a great 
concourse of people at the prison gates with lan- 
terns and torches. Among the numbers who re- 
sented these proceedings were the mother and 
grandmother of Agis, crying out and begging that 
the king might be heard and judged by the people 
in full assembly. But this, instead of procuring 
him a respite, hastened his execution ; for they 



1 88 plutarch's lives 

were afraid he would be rescued in the night if the 
tumult should increase. 

As Agis was going to execution he perceived 
one of the officers lamenting his fate with tears ; 
upon which he said, "My friend, dry up your 
tears ; for as I suffer innocently I am in a better 
condition than those who condemn me contrary to 
law and justice. " So saying, he cheerfully offered 
his neck to the executioner. 



CLEOMENES. 

Note. — Cleomenes (Spartan). The defeat of Cleo- 
menes at Sellasia took place B.C. 222. His suicide 
followed three years later. There were others 
who bore the name of Cleomenes, but they were 
of inferior note. 

The King Cleomenes about whom we are writ- 
ing was the third of that name who had sat on the 
throne of Sparta. He was ambitious to gain 
glory, and had a native greatness of mind. He 
was not satisfied with the prevailing manners and 
customs of Sparta, for he observed that ease and 
pleasure were the great objects of the people. 
He noticed that individuals, entirely actuated by 
self-interest, paid no attention to the business of 
the state any further than they could turn it to 
their own emolument. 

When Leonidas died, and Cleomenes came to 
the throne he observed that all ranks of men were 
utterly corrupted. The rich had an eye only to 
private profit and pleasure, and utterly neglected 



plutarch's lives 189 

the public interest. The common people, on ac- 
count of the meanness of their circumstances, had 
no spirit for war, or ambition to instruct their 
children in the Spartan exercises. Cleomenes 
himself had only the name of king, while the 
power was in the hands of the ephori. He there- 
fore soon began to think of changing this state of 
affairs, and the readiest way seemed to be by get- 
ting rid of the ephori. He endeavored to convince 
his father-in-law, Megistonus, that the yoke of the 
ephori ought to be broken, and an equal division 
of property made ; by means of which equality 
Sparta would resume her ancient valor and pres- 
tige. Megistonus complied, and the king then 
took two or three other friends into the scheme. 
Soon after, all the ephori but one were put to 
death. He was one of the first who gave up his 
own estate to the public stock, and his father-in- 
law and many friends followed his example. The 
whole of the citizens readily joined in the scheme, 
and the land was re-allotted. Then all the old 
Spartan laws and customs were again established, 
and the king himself was plain and simple in his 
equipage and diet, assuming no manner of pomp 
above a common citizen ; he set a glorious exam- 
ple of sobriety. 

His common supper was short and truly laconic. 
There were only couches for three people ; but 
when he entertained ambassadors or strangers, 
two more couches were added, and the table was 
a little better furnished by the servants ; not that 
any curious dessert was added, only the dishes 



190 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

were larger and the wine more generous ; for he 
blamed one of his friends for setting nothing be- 
fore strangers but the coarse cake and black 
broth which they ate in their common refectories. 
"When we have strangers to entertain," he said, 
" we need not be such very exact Lacedaemonians. " 
After supper a three-legged stand was brought in, 
upon which were placed a brass bowl full of wine, 
two silver pots that held about a pint and a half 
apiece, and a few other cups. Such of the guests 
as were inclined to drink made use of these ves- 
sels; for the cup was not pressed upon any man 
against his will. There was no music or other 
amusement, nor was any such thing wanted. He 
entertained his company very agreeably with his 
own conversation— sometimes asking questions, 
and sometimes telling stories. 

He raised a small army only at first, but he was 
soon obliged to increase it, and to march against 
enemies on all sides. He took Argos after a des- 
perate struggle, and recovered the whole of Pelo- 
ponnesus. 

The tide of success then turned against Cleo- 
menes, and he was in great straits for want of 
money. He was defeated and ruined at the bat- 
tle of Sellasia by Antigonus. He sought refuge 
in Egypt, and was taken, by orders of Ptolemy 
Euergetes, to Alexandria, where he was treated 
with some degree of consideration ; but old 
Ptolemy died before he could put his intentions in 
favor of Cleomenes into execution, and his succes- 
sor on the Egyptian throne was no friend to Cleo- 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES 191 

menes. The ex-king of Sparta and his friends 
then took means to escape from Egypt ; but they 
were caught before they could get to their ships, 
and in their extreme trouble all of them committed 
suicide. Cleomenes had been king of Sparta six- 
teen years. 

Ptolemy was no sooner informed of what had 
happened than he ordered the body of Cleomenes 
to be flayed and nailed to a cross, and his chil- 
dren and mother and companions to be put to 
death. A few days after, the soldiers who watched 
the body of Cleomenes on the cross saw a great 
snake winding about his head and covering all his 
face, so that no bird of prey durst touch it. This 
struck Ptolemy with superstitious terror, and 
made way for the women to try a variety of ex- 
piations ; for he was now persuaded that he had 
caused the death of a person who was a favorite 
of heaven, and something more than mortal. The 
Alexandrians crowded to the place, and called 
Cleomenes a hero, a son of the gods, till the phil- 
osophers put a stop to their devotions by assuring 
them that as dead oxen breed bees, horses wasps, 
and beetles rise out of the putrefaction of asses, so 
human carcasses (when some of the moisture of 
the marrow is evaporated, and it comes to a 
thicker consistence) produce serpents. The an- 
cients, knowing this doctrine, appropriated the 
serpent, rather than any other animal, to heroes. 



192 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 



TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 

Note. — Tiberius Gracchus (Roman). This famous 
tribune and reformer was born about b.c. 166. As 
stated below, he was less than thirty years of age 
at his death. 

Having given the history of Agis and Cleo- 
menes, we have two Romans to compare with 
them , namely Tiberius and Caius Gracchus. They 
were the sons of Tiberius Gracchus. 

Tiberius, as he grew toward manhood, gained 
so extraordinary a reputation that he was ad- 
mitted into the college of the augurs, rather on 
account of his virtue than his high birth. He was 
soon after made a tribune, but when he sought re- 
election he was strongly opposed, and when the 
day of election came the person who had care of 
the chickens which were used in augury brought 
them out and set food before them, but none of 
them came out of the pen except one, and that one 
would not eat ; it only raised its left wing, 
stretched out a leg, and then went in again. This 
put Tiberius in mind of a former ill omen. He 
had a helmet that he wore in battle, finely orna- 
mented, and remarkably magnificent ; two ser- 
pents that had crept into it privately laid their 
eggs and hatched in it. Such a bad presage made 
him more afraid of the late one. Yet he set out 
for the capitol,^ as soon as he understood that the 
people were assembled there. But in going out 
of his house he stumbled upon the threshold, and 



PLUTARCH S LIVES I93 

struck it with so much violence that the nail of 
his great toe was broken, and the blood flowed 
from the wound. When he had got a little on his 
way, he saw on his left hand two ravens righting 
on the top of a house ; and though he was at- 
tended, on account of his dignity, by great num- 
bers of people, a stone which one of the ravens 
dropped fell close by his foot. This startled even 
the boldest of his partisans. But one of his train 
said, "It would be an unsupportable disgrace if 
Tiberius, the son of Gracchus, grandson of Scipio 
Africanus, and protector of the people of Rome, 
should, for fear of a raven, disappoint that people 
when they called him to their assistance." 

Tiberius soon discovered that the people having 
landed interests had applied to the magistrates to 
protect them ; but as they could not prevail, they 
had resolved to- dispatch him, Tiberius, them- 
selves, and for that purpose had armed them- 
selves and their friends and slaves. Tiberius no 
sooner communicated this intelligence to those 
about him, than they tucked up their gowns, 
seized the halberts with which the sergeants kept 
off the crowd, broke them, and took the pieces to 
ward off any assault that might be made. Such 
as were at a distance, much surprised at seeing 
this, asked what the reason might be, and Tiberius, 
finding they could not hear him, touched his head 
with his hand to signify the danger he was in. 
His adversaries seeing this, ran and informed the 
senators that Tiberius demanded the diadem, 
alleging that gesture as a proof of it. 
13 



194 plutarch's lives 

A riot ensued, and there was a serious fight. 
The attendants had brought clubs and bludgeons 
with them from home, and the patricians seized 
the feet of the benches which the populace had 
broken in their flight. Thus armed, they made 
toward Tiberius, knocking down such as stood 
before him. These being killed or dispersed, 
Tiberius likewise fled. He happened, however, 
to stumble and fall over some of the killed. As 
he was recovering himself, one of his colleagues 
came up openly, and struck him on the head with 
the foot of a stool, and another gave him a blow 
which killed him. More than three hundred per- 
sons lost their lives in this affray with clubs, 
stones, and like weapons ; but not one was killed 
by the sword. This is said to have been the first 
instance of sedition in Rome, since the expulsion 
of the kings, which caused blood to be shed. 

Tiberius Gracchus was only twenty-nine years 
old when he died. 



CAIUS GRACCHUS. 

Note. — Caius Gracchus (Roman). Caius Gracchus 
was a younger brother of Tiberius Gracchus and 
was born about b.c 157. After his brother's death 
he lived in retirement until his death b.c 126. 

This Roman senator was brother of Tiberius 
Gracchus. On the murder of his brother he left 
the forum and lived in retirement ; but after a 
time he was elected to office, and accepted it. 
He soon became a leading tribune. 



PLUTARCH S LIVES I95 

Among the laws which he procured to increase 
the authority of the people, and lessen that of the 
senate, one related to colonizing and dividing 
the public lands among the poor. Another was in 
favor of the army, who were now to be clothed at 
the public charge, without diminution of their 
pay, and none was to serve till he was full 
seventeen years old. A third was for the benefit 
of the Italian allies, who were to have the same 
right of voting at elections as the citizens of 
Rome. By a fourth the markets were regulated, 
and the poor enabled to buy bread-corn at a 
cheaper rate. A fifth related to the courts of 
judicature, and, indeed, contributed more than 
anything to retrench the power of the senate. 
Before this, senators only were judges in all 
causes, and on that account their body was for- 
midable both to the equestrian order and to the 
people. But now he added three hundred knights 
to the three hundred senators, and decreed that a 
judicial authority should be equally invested in 
the six hundred. 

The work that he took most pains with was that 
of the public roads, in which he paid a regard to 
beauty as well as use. They were drawn in a 
straight line through the country, and either paved 
with hewn stone, or made of a binding sand. 
When he met with dells or other deep holes, he 
either filled them up with rubbish, or laid bridges 
over them ; so that being leveled and brought to 
a perfect parallel on both sides, they afforded a 
regular and elegant prospect through the whole. 



196 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

Besides, he divided all the roads into miles of near 
eight furlongs each, and set up pillars of stone to 
mark the divisions. He likewise erected other 
stones, at proper distances, on each side of the 
way, to assist travellers who rode without ser- 
vants to mount their horses. 

But sedition again began to show itself, and 
Caius quarreled with his colleagues. The reason 
was this : — There was a show of gladiators to be 
exhibited to the people in the forum, and most of 
the magistrates had caused scaffolds to be erected 
around the place, in order to let them out for hire. 
Caius insisted that they should be taken down, 
that the poor might see the exhibition without 
paying for it. As none of the proprietors regarded 
his orders, he waited till the night preceding the 
show, and then went with his own workmen and 
demolished the scaffolds. Next day the populace 
saw the place quite clear of them, and, of course, 
they admired him as a man of superior spirit. 
But his colleagues were greatly offended at his 
violent temper and measures, and it was not long 
before there was an open rupture, and Caius was 
obliged to flee from Rome. He was pursued, 
captured, and immediately killed. We are told 
also that after a person had cut off the head of 
Caius, and was bearing away the prize, Septimu- 
leius, one of Opimius' friends, took it from him ; 
for the weight in gold had been offered by proc- 
lamation for the head. Septimuleius carried it 
to Opimius upon the point of a pike; and when 
put into the scales it was found to weigh seventeen 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 197 

pounds eight ounces ; but Septimuleius had added 
fraud to his other villainies, and had taken out the 
brain and filled the cavity with molten lead. 



DEMOSTHENES. 

Note. — Demosthenes (Greek). The career of this 
matchless orator is fully told by Plutarch. He 
was born near Athens, B.C. 383, and poisoned him- 
self in the temple of Poseidon b.c 322. 

This prince of orators was son of Demosthenes, 
a sword -cutler, one of the principal citizens of 
Athens. He was only seven years old when his 
father died, and his guardians greatly neglected 
him, and squandered or wasted the money which 
had been left to support and educate him. 

His ambition to speak in public is said to have 
taken its rise on this occasion : — The orator Calli- 
stratus was to plead a celebrated cause, and the 
expectation of the public was greatly raised, both 
by the powers of the orator — which were then in 
the highest repute— and by the importance of the 
trial. Demosthenes, hearing his governors and 
tutors agree among themselves to attend the trial, 
prevailed on his master to take him to hear the 
pleadings. The master, having some acquaint- 
ance with the officers who opened the court, got 
his young pupil a seat where he could hear the 
orators without being seen. Callistratus had 
great success, and his abilities were extremely 
admired. Demosthenes was fired with a spirit of 
emulation. When he saw with what distinction 



198 plutarch's lives 

the orator was conducted home, and complimented 
by the people, he was struck still more with the 
power of that commanding eloquence which could 
carry all before it. From this time, therefore, he 
bade adieu to the other studies and exercises in 
which boys are engaged, and applied himself with 
great assiduity to declaiming, in hopes of being 
one day numbered among the orators. 

When he had attained his majority he called his 
guardians to account at law, and he wrote ora- 
tions against them ; and as they found many 
methods for causing delay, be had plenty of op- 
portunities for exercising his talent as an orator 
at the bar. At first he was laughed at and inter- 
rupted, for his violence of manner and his stam- 
mering made it very difficult to understand him. 
He overcame these difficulties by retiring to the 
country, where he practiced and studied everyday 
both action and speech ; and to insure his not 
going into the city, he shaved off the hair on one 
side of his head, which compelled him to keep in 
retirement till it had grown again. Feeling con- 
fidence in his oratorical powers, he returned to 
the bar, and soon began to be listened to and 
admired. He was seldom heard to speak anything 
extempore ; and though the people often called 
upon him by name, as he sat in the assembly, to 
speak to the point debated, he would not do it 
unless he came prepared. For this many of the 
orators ridiculed him ; and Pytheas, in particular, 
told him "that all his arguments smelled of the 
lamp." He did not pretend to deny his previ- 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 199 

ous preparation, but told the orators "that he 
neither wrote the whole of his orations, nor spoke 
without first committing part to writing." He 
further affirmed "that this showed him a good 
member of a democratic state ; for the coming 
prepared to the rostrum was a mark of respect for 
the people. " 

As for his personal defects, Demetrius, the 
Phalerean, gives us an account of the remedies 
he applied to them ; and he says he had it from 
Demosthenes in his old age. The hesitation and 
stammering of his tongue he corrected by practic- 
ing to speak with pebbles in his mouth ; and 
strengthened his voice by running or walking up 
hill, and pronouncing some passage in an oration 
or a poem during the difficulty of breathing. He 
had, moreover, a looking-glass in his house, be- 
fore which he used to declaim, and adjust all his 
motions. 

When Harpalus fled from Alexander (who was 
in Asia) to Athens, laden with very valuable 
treasures, he asked the Athenians to give him 
shelter. Most of the orators had an eye on the 
gold ; but Demosthenes advised that Harpalus 
should be sent off, as his presence in Athens 
might provoke war. Yet a few days after, when 
they were looking over the treasures, Harpalus 
noticed that Demosthenes seemed particularly 
pleased with one of the king's cups, and stood 
admiring the workmanship and fashion. He 
desired him to take it in his hand, and feel the 
weight of the gold. Demosthenes being surprised 



200 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

at the weight, and asking Harpalus how much it 
might bring, he smiled, and said, "It will bring 
you twenty talents ;" and as soon as it was night he 
sent him the cup with that sum. Harpalus knew 
well enough how to distinguish a man's passion 
for gold by his pleasure at the sight, and the keen 
looks he cast upon it. Demosthenes could not 
resist the temptation : it made all the impression 
upon him that was expected ; he received the 
money, and went over to the interest of Harpalus. 
Next day he came into the assembly with a quan- 
tity of wool and bandages about his neck ; and 
when the people called upon him to get up and 
speak, he made signs that he had lost his voice. 
Upon this, some that were by said, "It was no 
common hoarseness he had got in the night ; it 
was a hoarseness occasioned by swallowing gold 
and silver." Afterward, when all the people 
were apprised of his taking the bribe, and he 
wanted to speak in his own defense, they would 
not suffer him, but raised a clamor, and expressed 
their indignation. At the same time, somebody 
or other stood up, and said sneeringly, "Will you 
not listen to the man with the cup?" 

At the same time, Demosthenes, seemingly with 
a design to prove his innocence, moved for an 
order that the affair should be brought before the 
court of Areopagus, and all persons punished who 
should be found guilty of taking bribes. In con- 
sequence of which he appeared before that court, 
and was convicted, and sentenced to pay a fine 
of fifty talents, and to be imprisoned till it was 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 201 

paid. The disgrace of his conviction, and the 
weakness of his constitution — which could not 
bear close confinement — determined him to fly ; 
and this he did. He bore his exile in a very weak 
and effeminate manner. He was after a time 
recalled, and the fine paid for him ; but he did not 
long enjoy the return to his country. He lost his 
life in the following manner : — When news was 
brought that Antipater and Craterus were coming 
to Athens, Demosthenes and his party hastened 
to escape, and the people immediately condemned 
them to death. As they fled different ways, An- 
tipater sent a company of soldiers, under Archias, 
the exile hunter, to pursue and capture them. 

Archias being informed that Demosthenes had 
taken sanctuary in the temple of Neptune at Ca- 
lauria, he and his Thracian soldiers passed over 
into it in rowboats. As soon as he was landed 
he went to the orator, and endeavored to persuade 
him to quit the temple, and go with him to Anti- 
pater, assuring him that he had no hard measure to 
expect. On hearing which, Demosthenes retired 
into the inner part of the temple ; and taking some 
paper, as if he meant to write, he put the pen in 
his mouth, and bit it a considerable time, as he 
used to do when thoughtful about his composition. 
He sucked the poison from his pen, after which, 
he covered his head, fell by the altar, and ex- 
pired. He died on the 16th of October, b.c. 322, 
aged 61, leaving behind him a great body of 
orations. 



202 PLUTARCH S LIVES 



CICERO. 

Note. — Cicero (Roman). Cicero was born B.C. 106, 
the same year of Pompey's birth, and died B.C. 43. 

I think the first of the family who bore the 
name of Cicero must have been an extraordinary 
man ; and for that reason his posterity did not re- 
ject the appellation, but rather took to it with 
pleasure, though it was a common subject of ridi- 
cule ; for the Latins called a vetch "Cicer,"and 
he had a flat excrescence on the tip of his nose in 
resemblance of a vetch, from which he got that 
surname. As for the Cicero of whom we are writ- 
ing, his friends advised him, on his first applica- 
tion to business, and soliciting one of the great 
offices of state, to lay aside or change that name. 
But he answered with great spirit, " That he would 
endeavor to make the name of Cicero more glori- 
ous than that of the Scauri and the Catuli. " 
When quaestor in Sicily, he consecrated in one of 
the temples a vase, or some other offering, in 
silver, upon which he inscribed his first two 
names, Marcus Tullius, and, punning upon the 
third, ordered the artificer to engrave a vetch. 
Such is the account we have of his name. As he 
was naturally ambitious of honor, and being 
spurred on besides by his father and his friends, 
he betook himself to the bar. Nor was it by slow 
and insensible degrees that he gained the palm of 
eloquence ; his fame shot forth at once, and he 
was distinguished above all the orators of Rome. 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES 203 

His excellence at hitting off a jest or repartee ani- 
mated his pleadings, and therefore seemed not 
foreign to the business of the forum ; but by bring- 
ing it much into use he offended numbers of peo- 
ple, and got the character of a malevolent man. 
As to his domestic life, we read that he had a 
handsome country-seat at Arphinum, a farm near 
Naples, and another at Pompeii, but neither of 
them was very considerable. His wife Terentia 
brought him a fortune of a hundred and twenty 
thousand denarii, and he fell heir to about ninety 
thousand more. Upon this he lived in a genteel, 
and at the same time a frugal manner, with men 
of letters about him, both Greeks and Romans. 
He rarely took his meal before sunset ; not that 
business or study prevented his sitting down to 
table sooner, but the weakness of his stomach, he 
thought, required that regimen. Indeed, he was 
so exact in all respects in the care of his health, 
that he had his stated hours for rubbing and for 
the exercise of walking. By this management of 
his constitution, he gained a sufficient stock of 
health and strength for the great labors and 
fatigues he afterward underwent. He gave up 
to his brother the town-house which belonged to 
his family, and took up his residence on the Pala- 
tine Hill, that those who came to pay their court 
to him might not have far to go, and he had a 
levee every day. 

The first great danger which Cicero had to 
guard against was the conspiracy of Catiline, who, 
with Lentulus and others, resolved to kill the 



204 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

whole senate, and as many other citizens as they 
possibly could; to burn the city; and to spare 
none but the sons of Pompey, who were to be kept 
as pledges of peace with that general. The con- 
spirators had fixed on a night during the feast of 
the Saturnalia for the execution of their enter- 
prise. They had lodged arms and combustible 
matter in the house of Cethegus. They had 
divided Rome into a hundred parts, and selected 
the same number of men, each of whom was 
allotted his quarter to set fire to. As this was to 
be done by them all at the same moment, they 
hoped that the conflagration would be general ; 
others were to intercept the water, and kill all that 
went to seek it. 

Cicero discovered the conspiracy in time, and 
caught Catiline and the rest of the leading con- 
spirators, who were put to death privately. As 
Cicero passed through the forum to go to his own 
house, the people hailed him with loud acclama- 
tions, and called him "the savior and second 
founder of Rome." At night the streets were 
illuminated with a multitude of lamps and torches 
placed near the doors. The women held out 
lights from the tops of the houses, that they might 
behold and pay a proper compliment to the man 
who was now followed with solemnity by a train 
of the greatest men in Rome, most of whom had 
distinguished themselves by successful wars, led 
up triumphs, and enlarged the empire both by sea 
and land. All these, in their discourse with each 
other as they went along, acknowledged that 



plutarch's lives 205 

Rome was indebted to many generals and great 
men of that age for pecuniary acquisitions, for 
rich spoils, for power, but for preservation and 
safety to Cicero alone, who had rescued her from 
so great and dreadful a danger. Not that his 
quashing the enterprise and punishing the delin- 
quents appeared so extraordinary a thing ; but the 
wonder was that he could suppress the greatest 
conspiracy that ever existed with so little incon- 
venience to the state, and without tumult. 

Though he had an insatiable desire for gaining 
honor, he was never unwilling that others should 
have their share, for he was entirely free from 
envy ; and it appears from his works that he was 
most liberal in his praises, not only of the an- 
cients, but of those of his own time. Many of his 
remarkable sayings, too, of this nature are pre- 
served. Thus, of Aristotle he said, "That he 
was a river of flowing gold ;" and of Plato's dia- 
logues, "That if Jupiter were to speak he would 
speak as Plato did. " Theophrastus used to be 
his "particular favorite ;" and being asked which 
of Demosthenes' orations he thought the best, he 
answered, "The longest." Some who affect to be 
zealous admirers of that orator complain, indeed, 
of Cicero's saying in one of his epistles, "that 
Demosthenes sometimes nodded in his orations ;" 
but they forget the many great encomiums he 
bestowed on him in the other parts of his works ; 
and do not consider that he gave the title of Philip- 
pics to his orations against Mark Antony, which 
were the most elaborate he ever wrote. There 



206 plutarch's lives 

was not one of his contemporaries, celebrated 
either for his eloquence or philosophy, whose 
fame he did not promote either by speaking or 
writing of him in an advantageous manner. 

Cicero's enemies were at last numerous enough 
to get him banished. The people, however, paid 
no regard to the decree, but gave him succor and 
protection. His villas and his house in Rome 
were burned, and Clodius put his goods up to auc- 
tion, and the crier gave notice of it every day, but 
no buyer appeared. 

Cicero was recalled sixteen months after his 
banishment; and such joy was expressed by the 
cities, so much eagerness to meet him shown by 
all ranks of people, that his own account of it is 
less than the truth, though he said " that Italy had 
brought him on her shoulders to Rome. " 

He soon regained his popularity, and daily en- 
tertained at his own charge persons of honor and 
learning, not with magnificence indeed, but with 
elegance and propriety. He had no porter at his 
gate, nor did any man ever find him in bed; for 
he rose early in the morning, and kindly received 
those who came to pay their court to him, either 
standing or walking before his door. We are told 
that he never caused any man to be beaten with 
rods, or to have his garments rent ; never uttered 
opprobrious language in his anger, nor added in- 
sult to punishment. 

After the battle of Pharsalia between Caesar and 
Pompey, and after the flight of Pompey, Cato 
desired Cicero to take command of part of the 
fleet, but he declined to have any further share in 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 207 

the war. Upon which young Pompey and his 
friends called him traitor, drew their swords, and 
would certainly have dispatched him had not Cato 
interposed and conveyed him out of the camp. 
He then withdrew from public business, and be- 
stowed his leisure on the young men who were 
desirous to be instructed in philosophy. Cicero 
had no share in the conspiracy against Caesar, 
though he was a particular friend of Brutus. An- 
other conspiracy ended in the proscription of 
Cicero, and he fled by ship to Cajeta, where he 
had a delightful summer retreat. There was a 
temple of Apollo on that coast, from which it was 
observed that a flight of crows came with a great 
noise, and perched on the sails of Cicero's ship. 
All looked upon this as an ill omen ; yet Cicero 
went on shore, and, entering his house, lay down 
to repose himself. In the meantime, a number of 
the crows settled in the chamber window, and 
croaked in the most doleful manner. One of them 
even entered it, and, alighting on the bed, at- 
tempted with its beak to draw off the clothes 
with which he had covered his face. At sight of 
this, the servants began to reproach themselves. 
" Shall we," said they, "remain to be spectators of 
our master's murder? Shall we not protect him, 
so innocent and so great a sufferer as he is, when 
the brute creatures give him marks of their care 
and attention?" Then partly by entreaty, partly 
by force, they got him into his litter, and carried 
him toward the sea. 

Meantime the assassins came up, and Cicero 
fell in the sixty -fourth year of his age. 



208 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 



DEMETRIUS. 

Note. — Demetrius (Macedonian). Demetrius was 
born b.c. 338, and, at the age of twenty-two, com- 
manded the army sent against Ptolemy, by whom 
he was defeated near Gaza. 

Demetrius, though tall was not equal in height 
to his father, Antigonus. But his beauty and his 
mien were so inimitable that no sculptor or painter 
could hit off a likeness. His countenance had a 
mixture of grace and dignity, and was at once 
amiable and awful ; and the unsubdued and eager 
air of youth was blended with the majesty of the 
hero and the king. There was the same happy 
mixture in his behavior, which inspired, at the 
same time, both pleasure and awe. In his hours of 
leisure, he was a most agreeable companion ; at his 
table, and every species of entertainment, of all 
princes he was the most delicate ; and yet, when 
business called, nothing could equal his activity, 
his diligence, and dispatch ; in which respect he 
imitated Bacchus most of all the gods, since he 
was not only terrible in war, but knew how to 
terminate war with peace, and turn with the hap- 
piest address to the joys and pleasures which 
peace inspires. His affection for his father was 
remarkably great ; and in the respect he paid his 
mother, his love for his other parent was very 
discernible. 

His war with the Rhodians was occasioned by 
their alliance with Ptolemy ; and in the course of 






PLUTARCH S LIVES 200. 

it he brought the largest of his helepoles up to 
their walls. Its base was square ; each of its sides 
at the bottom forty-eight cubits wide, and it was 
sixty-six cubits high. The sides of the several 
divisions gradually lessened, so that the top was 
much narrower than the bottom. The inside was 
divided into several stories or rooms, one above 
another. The front, which was turned toward 
the enemy, had a window in each storey, through 
which missive weapons of various kinds were 
thrown ; for it was filled with men who practiced 
every method of fighting. It neither shook nor 
veered the least in its motion, but rolled on in a 
steady upright position, and moved with a horri- 
ble noise. He had two coats of mail brought from 
Cyprus for his use in this war, each of which 
weighed forty minae. Zolius, the maker, to show 
the excellence of their temper, ordered a dart to 
be shot at one of them from an engine at the dis- 
tance of twenty-six paces, and it stood so firm that 
there was no more mark upon it than what might 
be made with a writing-stylus. 

People have remarked that Demetrius always 
appeared like a theatrical king. He not only 
affected a superfluity of ornament in wearing a 
double diadem, and a robe of purple interwoven 
with gold, but he had his shoes made of a cloth of 
gold, with soles of fine purple. There was a robe 
a long time in weaving for him, of most sumptu- 
ous magnificence. The figure of the world and 
all the heavenly bodies were to be represented 
upon it ; but it was left unfinished on account of 
14 



V 



2IO PLUTARCH S LIVES 

his change of fortune. Nor did any of his succes- 
sors ever presume to wear it, though Macedon had 
many pompous kings after him. This ostentation 
of dress offended a people who were unaccustomed 
to such sights ; but his luxurious and dissolute 
manner of life was a more obnoxious circumstance ; 
and what disobliged them most of all was his dif- 
ficulty of access ; for he either refused to see those 
who applied to him, or behayed to them in a harsh 
and haughty manner. 

One day, when he seemed to come out in a more 
obliging temper, and to be more accessible, he 
was presented with several petitions, all which 
he received, and put them in the skirt of his robe. 
The people of course followed him with great joy ; 
but no sooner was he come to the bridge over the 
Axius than he opened his robe and shook all the 
petitions into the river. This stung the Macedo- 
nians to the heart ; when , looking for the protection 
of a king, they found the insolence of a tyrant. 
An old woman was one day very troublesome to 
him in the street, and begged with great impor- 
tunity to be heard. He said, "He was not at 
leisure." "Then," cried the old woman, "you 
should not be a king. " The king was struck with 
these words ; and having considered a moment, 
he returned to his palace, where, postponing all 
other affairs, he gave audience for several days 
to all who chose to apply to him, beginning with 
the old woman. 

In a battle with his son-in-law, Seleucus, he 
was abandoned by his soldiers, captured, and, 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 211 

after three years' confinement, he died of a dis- 
temper occasioned by idleness and excess. This 
happened b.c. 284, when he was fifty-four years 
of age. 

ANTONY. 

Note. — Antony (Roman). Antony the triumvir was 
born about b.c. 83. The full story of his remark- 
able career and his death, with that of Cleopatra, 
are given by Plutarch. 

Mark Antony had a noble dignity of counte- 
nance, a graceful length of beard, a large fore- 
head, an aquiline nose ; and, upon the whole, the 
same manly aspect that we see in the pictures and 
statues of Hercules. There was, indeed, an an- 
cient tradition that his family was descended from 
Hercules, and it was no wonder if Antony sought 
to confirm this opinion by affecting to resemble 
him in his air and his dress. Thus, when he ap- 
peared in public, he wore his vest girt on the hips, 
a large sword, and over all a mantle. His liber- 
ality to the soldiers and to his friends was the 
first foundation of his advancement, and continued 
to support him in that power which he was other- 
wise weakening by a thousand irregularities. 

In the conspiracy against Caesar it was proposed 
that Antony too should be killed, but Brutus 
effectually opposed the suggestion. Antony did 
not know of the plot against Caesar, and was 
much concerned when he heard of the assassina- 
tion. When Caesar was slain, Antony absconded 
in the disguise of a slave ; but after he found that 



212 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

the conspirators were assembled in the capitol, 
and had no further designs of massacre, he assem- 
bled the senate, when he proposed that an act of 
amnesty should be passed ; and when Caesar's 
body was exposed in the forum he undertook the 
customary funeral oration ; and when he found the 
people affected with his encomiums on the de- 
ceased, he endeavored still more to excite their 
compassion by all that was pitiable or aggravat- 
ing in the massacre. 

Antony fought the enemies of Caesar with some 
success, but was in the end defeated and had to 
fly. He was in terrible straits when he set out in 
his expedition against the Parthians, and he sent 
for Cleopatra to answer some charges which had 
been laid against her of assisting his enemies in 
the war. Prepared, therefore, with such treas- 
ures, ornaments, and presents, as were suitable 
to the dignity and affluence of her kingdom, but 
chiefly relying on her personal charms, she set 
off for Cilicia, to meet Antony. 

She sailed along the river Cydnus in a most 
magnificent galley. The stern was covered with 
gold, the sails were of purple, and the oars were 
silver. These, in their motion, kept time to the 
music of flutes and pipes and harps. The qt:een, 
in the dress and character of Venus, lay under a 
canopy embroidered with gold of the most ex- 
quisite workmanship ; while boys, like painted 
Cupids, stood fanning her on each side of the 
couch. Her maids were of the most distinguished 
beauty, and, habited like the Nereids and the 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 213 

Graces, assisted in the steering" and conduct of 
the vessel. The fragrance of burning incense 
was diffused along the shores, which were covered 
with multitudes of people. Some followed the 
procession, and numbers went down from the city 
to see it. Antony sent to invite her to supper ; 
but she thought it his duty to wait upon her ; so, 
to show his politeness, on her arrival he complied. 
He was astonished at the magnificence of the 
preparations, but particularly at the multitude of 
lights, which were raised or let down together, 
and disposed in such a variety of square and cir- 
cular figures that they afforded one of the most 
pleasing spectacles that has been recorded in his- 
tory. The day following Antony invited her to 
sup with him, and was ambitious to outdo her in 
the elegance and magnificence of the entertain- 
ment. But he was soon convinced that he came 
short of her in both, and was the first to ridicule 
the meanness and vulgarity of the feast. Notable 
was the variety of her powers in conversation ; 
her beauty, however, was neither astonishing nor 
inimitable, but it derived a force from her wit and 
her fascinating manner, which was absolutely 
irresistible. Her voice was delightfully melodi- 
ous, and had the same variety of modulation as 
a instrument of many strings. She spoke most 
languages, and there were but few of the foreign 
ambassadors whom she answered by an interpreter. 
To mention all Antony's follies would be too 
trifling ; but his fishing story must not be omitted. 
He was a-fishing one day with Cleopatra, and 



214 PLUTARCH S LIVES 

had ill success, which in her presence he could but 
look upon as a disgrace ; and he therefore ordered 
one of the assistants to dive, and put on his hook 
fish which had been taken before. This scheme 
he put in practice three or four times, and Cleo- 
patra perceived it. She affected, however, to be 
surprised at his success, expressed her wonder to 
the people about her, and the day following in- 
vited them to see fresh proofs of it. When the 
day following came, the vessel was crowded with 
people ; and as soon as Antony had let down his 
line she ordered one of her divers immediately to 
put a salt fish on his hook. When Antony found 
he had caught his fish, he drew up his line ; and 
this, as may be supposed, occasioned no small 
mirth amongst the spectators. "Go, general !" said 
Cleopatra, "leave fishing to us petty princes of 
Pharus and Canopus ; your game is cities, king- 
doms, and provinces. " 

After the battle of Actium, where Antony was 
defeated, it was reported that Cleopatra had killed 
herself, and Antony immediately determined to 
follow her example. He plunged his sword into 
his body, and threw himself on a couch. The 
wound, however, was not so deep as to cause im- 
mediate death. His friends all fled, and left him 
to his cries and torments, till Diomedes, secretary 
to Cleopatra, came with her request that he would 
come to her in the monument. When Antony 
found that she was still living, it gave him fresh 
spirits, and he ordered his servants to carry him 
in their arms to the door of the monument. Cle- 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 215 

opatra would not suffer the door to be opened, 
but a rope being let down from a window, Antony 
was fastened to it, and she, with her two women 
(all that were admitted into the monument), drew 
him up. Nothing could possibly be more affect- 
ing than that spectacle. Antony soon after ex- 
pired, and the death of Cleopatra followed. 

It is related by seme than an asp was brought in 
among some figs, and hid under the leaves, and 
that Cleopatra had arranged so that she might be 
bitten without seeing it. It is affirmed that she had 
two small punctures on her arm, apparently occa- 
sioned by the sting of the asp ; and it is clear that 
Caesar gave credit to this, for her effigy, which he 
carried in triumph, had an asp on the arm ; and 
though Caesar was much disappointed at her 
death, he admired her fortitude, and ordered her 
to be buried in the tomb of Antony, with all the 
magnificence due to her quality. She died at the 
age of thirty--nine, after having reigned twenty- 
two years, the last fourteen in conjunction with 
Antony. Antony was fifty-three, some say fifty- 
six, years old when he died. 

DION. 

Note. — Dion (Syracusan). Dion was born B.C. 408 and 
his death took place fifty-five years later. 

Amongst the many pupils of the famous philoso- 
pher Plato, Dion was one of the most distin- 
guished. To the fertility of his genius, and the 
excellence of his disposition, Plato himself has 



2l6 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

given testimony, and he did the greatest honor to 
that testimony in his life. For though he had 
been educated in servile principles under the 
tyrant Dionysius, — though he had been familiar- 
ized to dependence, on the one hand, and to the 
indulgence of pomp and luxury, as the greatest 
happiness, on the other, — yet he was no sooner 
acquainted with that philosophy which points out 
the road to virtue, than his whole soul caught the 
enthusiasm, and, with the simplicity of a young 
man who judges of the dispositions of others by 
his own, he concluded that Plato's lectures would 
have the same effect on Dionysius. For this rea- 
son he solicited, and at length persuaded, the 
tyrant to hear him. When Plato was admitted, 
the discourse turned on virtue in general. After- 
ward they came to fortitude in particular; and 
Plato made it appear that tyrants have of all men 
the least pretence to that virtue. Justice was the 
next topic ; and when Plato asserted the happiness 
of the just, and the wretched condition of the 
unjust, the tyrant was stung; and being unable 
to answer his arguments, he expressed his resent- 
ment against those who seemed to listen to him 
with pleasure. At last he was extremely exasper- 
ated, and asked the philosopher what business he 
had in Sicily? Plato answered, "That he came to 
seek an honest man." "And so, then," replied 
the tyrant, "it seems you have lost your labor." 
It was not long before the tyrant turned his hate 
against Dion, and accused him of conspiring 
against him, and he banished him. 



PLUTARCH'S LIVES 217 

Dionysius now removed Plato into the citadel, 
under color of kindness ; but in reality to set a 
guard upon him, lest he should follow Dion, and 
proclaim to the world how injuriously he had been 
treated. But in the course of time Plato managed 
to gain the favor of the tyrant, and was admitted 
into his presence without the usual formality of 
being searched. This form had to be gone through 
by every one, even by his wife and children, before 
they were admitted to his presence, for fear that 
they should have weapons or poison about them. 
The king would not even trust himself to the bar- 
ber, but burned off his beard with a live coal. 

Dion was at length able to march at the head 
of a formidable army, against Dionysius. He 
reached Syracuse almost without opposition, and 
the principal inhabitants, clad in white, met him 
at the gates and greeted him as their deliverer. 
The populace fell with great fury on Dionysius' 
party, but in particular they seized his spies, a set 
of wretches hated by gods and men, who went 
about the city to collect the sentiments of the 
inhabitants in order to communicate them to the 
tyrant. 

Dion had a friend named Calippus, an Athenian, 
with whom he first became acquainted, not on 
account of his literary merit, but, according to 
Plato, because he happened to be introduced by 
him to some religious mysteries. He had always 
attended him in the army, and was in great es- 
teem. He was, as before mentioned, the first of 
his friends who marched along with him into 



2l8 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

Syracuse, and he had distinguished himself in 
every action. This man, finding that Dion's 
chief friends had fallen in the war, that since the 
death of Heraclides the popular party was without 
a leader, and that he himself stood in great favor 
with the army, formed an execrable design against 
the life of his benefactor, which was successful. 

Dion was fifty years old when he was assassi- 
nated. 

MARCUS BRUTUS. 

Note. — Marcus Brutus (Roman). The mother of 
Marcus Brutus was a sister of Cato. As stated in 
the following sketch of his career, his death oc- 
curred B.C. 42, when he was in his forty-third year. 

Brutus had all the advantages that arise from 
the cultivation of philosophy. To his spirit, 
which was naturally sedate and mild, he gave 
vigor and activity by constant application. Upon 
the whole, he was happily formed to virtue, both 
by nature and education. Even the partisans of 
Caesar ascribe to him everything that had the 
appearance of honor or generosity in the conspir- 
acy, and all that was of a contrary character 
they laid to the charge of Cassius, who was, in- 
deed, the friend and relation of Brutus, but by no 
means resembled him in the simplicity of his 
manners. 

The popularity of the conspiracy against Caesar 
made Brutus feel that the safety of some of the 
greatest men in Rome depended on his conduct, 
and he could not think of the clanger they were to 



PLUTARCH S LIVES 2IO, 

encounter without anxiety. When the day fixed 
for the assassination came, Brutus went out, and 
took with him a dagger, which last circumstance 
was known only to his wife. The rest of the con- 
spirators met at the house of Cassius, and con- 
ducted his son, who was that day to put on the 
toga virilis, to the forum ; from whence they pro- 
ceeded to Pompey's portico, and waited for Caesar. 
Though the day was far spent, still Caesar did not 
come, being detained by his wife and the sooth- 
sayers. 

The senate was already seated, and the conspir- 
ators soon got close about Caesar's chair, under 
pretense of preferring a suit to him. Cassius 
turned his face to Pompey's statue, and invoked 
it, as if it had been sensible of his prayers. Tre- 
bonius kept Antony in conversation outside the 
court. And now Caesar entered, and the whole 
senate rose to salute him. The conspirators 
crowded around him, and sent Tullius Cimber, 
one of their number, to solicit the recall of his 
brother, who was banished. They all united in 
the solicitation, took hold of Caesar's hand, and 
kissed his head and his breast. He rejected their 
applications, and, finding that they would not de- 
sist, at length rose from his seat in anger. Tul- 
lius, upon this, laid hold of his robe, and pulled it 
from his shoulders. Casca, who stood behind, 
gave him the first, though but a slight wound, 
with his dagger near the shoulder. Caesar caught 
the handle of the dagger, and said, "Villain! 
Casca ! What dost thou mean ?" Caesar was 



2 20 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 



wounded by numbers almost at the same instant, 
and looked round him for some way to escape ; 
but when he saw the dagger of Brutus pointed 
against him, he let go Casca's hand, and, covering 
his head with his robe, resigned himself to their 
swords. The conspirators pressed so eagerly to 
stab him that they wounded each other. Brutus, 
in attempting to have his share in the sacrifice, 
received a wound in his hand, and all of them 
were covered with blood. 

Early next morning the senate assembled again, 
and voted thanks to Antony for preventing a civil 
war, as well as to Brutus and his party for their 
services to the commonwealth. 

At the battle of Philippi Brutus was defeated 
by the young Caesar, and being unable to bear the 
ignominy, he killed himself, b. c. 42. 

ARTAXERXES. 

Note. — Artaxerxes (Persian). Artaxerxes was the 
third son of Xerxes. He murdered his brother 
Darius and ascended the throne of Persia B.C. 465. 
He died b.c 424 and was succeeded by Xerxes. It 
is generally believed that Artaxerxes was the 
Ahasueras of Scripture, who married Esther. Ar- 
taxerxes, surnamed Mnemon, the eldest son of 
Darius, began his reign in b.c 404 and ruled for 
fortv-two years. 

Artaxerxes the First, who of all the Persian 
kings was the most distinguished for his modera- 
tion and greatness of mind, was surnamed Longi- 
manus, because his right hand was longer than 
his left. He was the son of Xerxes. The second 



plutarch's lives 221 

Artaxerxes, of whom we now write, was sur- 
named Mnemon, because of his wonderful mem- 
ory. Soon after the death of Darius, the king, 
his successor, went to Pasargadae, in order to be 
consecrated, according to custom, by the priests 
of Persia. In that city there is the temple of a 
goddess who has the affairs of war under her 
patronage, and, therefore, may be supposed to be 
Minerva. The prince to be consecrated must 
enter that temple, put off his own robe there, and 
take that which was worn by the great Cyrus be- 
fore he was king. He must eat a cake of figs, chew 
some turpentine, and drink a cup of acidulated 
mil]£. Whether there are any other ceremonies 
is unknown, except to the persons concerned. 

One of the chief military exploits during this 
reign was the great battle of Cunaxa, in which 
Cyrus, the king's brother, was defeated and slain. 

The horrid punishment of "The Boat" is thus 
described by Plutarch :— They take two boats, 
which are made to fit on each other, and extend 
the criminal in one of them in a supine posture. 
Then they turn the other boat upon it, so that the 
poor wretch's body is covered, and only the head 
and hands are out at one end, and the feet at the 
other. They give him victuals daily, and if he re- 
fuses to eat, they compel him by pricking him in 
the eyes. After he has eaten, they make him 
drink a mixture of honey and milk, which they 
pour into his mouth. They spread the same, too, 
over his face, and always turn him so as to have 
the sun full in his eyes ; the consequence of which 



222 PLUTARCH'S LIVES 

is, that his face is covered with swarms of flies. 
The poor victim is thus left to die a lingering 
death. The unfortunate victim in this case was 
named Mithridates, and he found death in seven- 
teen days. 

Artaxerxes died a natural death at the age of 
ninety-four years. 

ARATUS. 

Note. — Ar at us\ (Greek). This Greek poet and as- 
tronomer wa6 born in Cilicia and flourished about 
B.C. 300. ^ 

When only seven years old Aratus escaped as- 
sassination. He was educated by the friends of 
his family at Argos in a liberal manner, and as 
he was vigorous and robust he took to gymnastic 
exercises and gained many prizes. Indeed, in his 
statues there is an athletic look. Hence, perhaps, 
it was that he cultivated his powers of eloquence 
less than became a statesman. He might, indeed, 
be a better speaker than some suppose ; and there 
are those who judge, from his commentaries, that 
he certainly was so, though they were hastily 
written, and attempted nothing beyond common 
language. 

After a revolution, the government of Sicyon 
fell into the hands of Nicoles, and in order to re- 
store the country to liberty Aratus killed him. 
Aratus was very jealous of tyrannical power, and 
joined the republic of Sicyon in the Achaean 
league. He was chosen the first commander of 
the Achaean armies, and he drove the Macedonians 



PLUTARCH S LIVES. 223 

out of Athens and Corinth. He then made war 
against the Spartans, but was conquered by Cle- 
omenes, their king. He was more successful in 
his next campaign, and Cleomenes was defeated. 
Aratus had soon afterward to seek the aid of 
Philip, King of Macedonia ; and he had to repent 
of the acquaintance, for Philip, dreading the power 
and influence of Aratus, caused him and his son 
to be poisoned. 

Thus died Aratus at JEgium, at the age of 
sixty-one, after he had been seventeen times gen- 
eral of the Achaeans. That people were desirous of 
having him buried there, and would have thought 
it an honor to give him a magnificent funeral, 
and a monument worthy of his life and character. 
But the Sicyonians considered it as a misfortune 
to have him interred anywhere but amongst 
them, and therefore persuaded the Achaeans to 
leave the disposal of the body entirely to them. 
As there was an ancient law that had been ob- 
served with religious care, against burying any 
person within their walls, and they were afraid to 
transgress it on this occasion, they sent to inquire 
of the priestess of Apollo at Delphi. She returned 
a favorable answer, which gave great joy to all 
the Achaeans, particularly the people of Sicyon. 
They changed the day of mourning into a festival, 
and, adorning themselves with garlands and white 
robes, brought the corpse with songs and dances 
from JEgium to Sicyon. There they selected the 
most conspicuous ground, and interred Aratus as 
the founder and deliverer of their city. 



WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 

MENTIONED IN 

PLUTARCH'S LIVES 



WEIGHTS. 

Mina or pound, Attic, 
Talent (sixty minae) , Attic, 
Libra or pound, Roman, 



lb. oz. dwt. gr. 

. .. II 7 i6f 

. 56 11 7 17+ 

. . . 10 17 13^ 



MEASURES OF LENGTH. 



Foot, Roman, 
Cubit, Roman, 
Pace, Roman, 
Furlong, Roman, 
Mile, Roman, 
Cubit, Grecian, 
Furlong, Grecian, 
Mile, Grecian, 



Pace.* 



120 

967 

IOO 
805 



ft. 

o 

1 

4 

4 

o 

1 

4 

5 



in. 

"I 

10 

4 
o 

<Hr 

4t 
o 



MONEY. 

$ ct. 

Quadrans, i 

As I 

Sestertius 04 

Sestertium (= 1000 sestertii), . . 40.00 

Denarius, 15 

Obolus, Attic, 08 

Drachma, 16 

Mina (100 drachmae), • 10.00 

Talent (60 minae) , 960.00 

The Attic talent was equal to about $1,180; the 
Hebrew, $1,645 to $1,916. 

♦The English pace is calculated at 5 feet. 
224 



A 

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 

From Dacier and Other Writers 



B.C. 

Deucalion's deluge 1511 

Minos I., son of Jupiter and Europa 1401 

Minos II., grandson of the first 1250 

THESEUS.— The expedition of the Argonauts. The- 
seus attended Jason in it 1228 

Troy taken. Demophoon, the son of Theseus, was at 

the siege 1180 

The return of the Heraclidone to Peloponnesus 1101 

The first war of the Athenians against Sparta 1068 

Codrus, the last king of Athens, sacrifices himself 

for his country 1068 

The Helots subdued by Agis 1055 

The Ionic migration 1040 

LYCURGUS flourishes 904 

The First Olympiad. 774 

ROMULUS. -Rome built 750 

The death of Romulus 713 

NUM A POMPILIUS.-Numa elected king 712 

Numa dies 669 

SOLON.— Solon flourishes 598 

Cylon's conspiracy 

Epimenides goes to Athens, and expiates the city. He 
dies soon after, at the age of 154. The seven wise 

men: iEsop and Anacharsis flourish 594 

15 



2 26 A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

B.C. 

Solon Archon 592 

Croesus, king of Lydia 590 

Pythagoras goes into Italy. . . 578 

Pisistratus sets up his tyranny 570 

Cyrus, king of Persia 557 

Croesus taken 547 

PUBLICOLA is chosen consul in the room of Colla- 
tinus. Brutus rights Aruns, the eldest son of Tar- 

quin. Both are killed 506 

Publicola consul the third time. His colleague, Hora- 
tius Pulvillus, dedicates the temple of Jupiter Capi- 

tolinus. 504 

Horatius Codes defends the Sublician bridge against 

the Tuscans 502 

Publicola dies 500 

Zeno Eleates flourished 499 

The battle of Marathon 489 

CORIOLANUS is banished, and retires to the Volsci 488 

Herodotus is born 486 

Coriolanus besieges Rome; but being prevailed upon 
by his mother to retire, is stoned to death by the 

Volsci ' , 485 

ARISTIDES is banished for ten years, but recalled 

at the expiration of three 481 

THEMISTOCLES.— The battle of Salamis 478 

The battle of Plataea 477 

Thucydides is born 474 

Themistocles is banished by the Ostracism 469 

Artaxerxes ascends the throne of Persia 465 

CIMON beats the Persians both at sea and land 460 

Socrates is born. He lived 71 years 469 

Cimon dies. Alcibiades born the same year. Herod- 
otus and Thucydides flourish; the latter is twelve 

or thirteen years younger than the former 449 

Pindar dies, 80 years old 440 

PERICLES stirs up the Peloponnesian war, which 
lasts 27 years. He was very young when the Ro- 
mans sent the Decemviri to Athens for Solon's laws. 429 
Pericles dies 427 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 227 

B.C. 

Plato born 426 

Xerxes killed by Artabanus '. 424 

NICIAS.— The Athenians undertake the Sicilian 

war 413 

Nicias beaten and put to death in Sicily 411 

ALCIBIADES takes refuge at Sparta, and afterward 

amongst the Persians 410 

Dionysius the elder, now tyrant of Sicily 409 

Sophocles dies, aged 91 407 

Euripides dies, aged 75 406 

LYSANDER puts an end to the Peloponnesian war, 

and establishes the thirty tyrants at Athens 403 

Thrasybulus expels them 402 

Alcibiades put to death by order of Pharnabazus.... 401 
ARTAXERXES MNEMON overthrows his brother 
Cyrus in a great battle. The retreat of the ten 

thousand Greeks, conducted by Xenophon 399 

Socrates dies : 398 

AGESILAUS ascends the Spartan throne 395 

Lysander sent to the Hellespont 394 

Agesilaus defeats the Persian cavalry. Lysander 

dies 394 

The Romans lose the battle of Allia 387 

CAMILLUS retires to Ardea 386 

Aristotle born 382 

Demosthenes born 381 

Chabrias defeats the Lacedaemonians 374 

Peace between the Athenians and Lacedaemonians.. . 369 

The important battle of Leuctra 369 

PELOPIDAS, general of the Thebans. He headed 
the sacred band the year before at Leuctra, where 

Epaminondas commanded in chief 368 

Dionysius the elder, tyrant of Sicily, dies, and is suc- 
ceeded by his son 366 

Isocrates flourishes 364 

TIMOLEON kills his brother Timophanes, who was 

setting himself Up as tyrant in Corinth 363 

Pelopidas defeats Alexander, the tyrant of Phera&, 

but falls in the battle 363 



2 28 A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

B.C. 
The famous battle of Mantinea, in which Epaminon- 
das, though victorious, is killed by the son of Xeno- 

phon 361 

Camillus dies 360 

Artaxerxes dies. So does Agesilaus 359 

DION expels Dionysius the younger 355 

Alexander the Great born 353 

Dion is killed by Calippus 353 

DEMOSTHENES begins to thunder against Philip. 

Xenophon dies, aged 90 350 

Plato dies, aged 80 or 81 346 

Timoleon sent to assist the Syracusans 335 

Dionysius, the younger, sent off to Corinth 341 

Epicurus born 339 

The battle of Chaeronea, in which Philip beats the 

Athenians and Thebans 336 

Timoleon dies 335 

ALEXANDER THE GREAT is declared general of 
all Greece against the Persians, upon the death of 

his father, Philip 335 

The battle of the Granicus 334 

The battle of Arbela 325 

Porus beaten 326 

Diogenes dies, aged 90 324 

Alexander dies, aged 33 -. 323 

Aristotle dies, aged 63 319 

PHOCION retires to Polyperchon, but is delivered 
up by him to the Athenians, who put him to 

death 316 

EUMENES, who had attained to a considerable rank 
amongst the successors of Alexander the Great, is 

betrayed to Antigonus, and put to death 314 

DEMETRIUS, surnamed Poliocertes, permitted by 
his father, Antigonus, to command the army in 

Syria, when only twenty-two years of age 312 

He restores the Athenians to their liberty, but they 
choose to remain in the worst of chains, those of 

servility and meanness 305 

Dionysius, the tyrant, dies at Heraclea, aged 55 303 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 229 

B.C. 
In the year before Christ 288, died Theophrastus, 

aged 85 . 288 

And in the year before Christ 285, Theocritus flour- 
ished 285 

PYRRHUS, king of Epirus, passes over into Italy, 

where he is defeated by Laevinus 272 

The first Punic war, which lasted 24 years 263 

Philopcemen born 252 

ARATUS, of Sicyon, delivered his native city from 

the tyranny of Nicocles 249 

AGIS and CLEOMENES, contemporaries with Ara- 
tus, for Aratus being beaten by Cleomenes, calls 
in Antigonus from Macedonia, which proves the 

ruin of Greece 225 

PHILOPCEMEN 30 years old when Cleomenes took 
Megalopolis. About this time lived Hannibal, Mar- 

cellus, Fabius Maximus, and Scipio Africanus 221 

The second Punic war, which lasted 18 years 217 

Hannibal beats the consul Flaminius at the Thrasy- 

menean lake; 215 

And the consuls Varro and iEmilius at Cannae 214 

He is beaten by Marcellus at Nola 212 

CATO THE CENSOR was 21 or 22 years old when 

Fabius Maximus took Tarentum. See above 214 

MARCELLUS takes Syracuse 210 

FABIUS MAXIMUS seizes Tarentum. , 207 

Fabius Maximus dies 201 

Scipio triumphs over h|s conquests in Africa 199 

TITUS QUINCTIUS FLAMINIUS elected consul at 

the age of 30 196 

All Greece restored to her liberty, by T.Q. Flaminius. 
Flaminius triumphs; Demetrius, the son of Philip, 
and Nabis, tyrant of Lacedaemon, follow his chariot. 194 

Cato triumphs over his conquests in Spain 193 

Scipio Africanus dies 182 

CJESAR defeats Pompey at Pharsalia 46 

Cato the younger dies. 

Pompey flies into Egypt, and is assassinated there. 46 

Caesar makes himself master of Alexandria, and sub- 



230 A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

B.C. 

dues Egypt; after which he marches into Syria, 
and soon reduces Pharnaces 45 

He conquers Juba, Scipio, and Petreius, in Africa, 
and leads up four triumphs. Previous to which, 
Cato kills himself 44 

Caesar defeats the sons of Pompey at Munda. Cneius 
falls in the action, and Sextus flies into Sicily. 
Caesar triumphs the fifth time . . . 43 

Cicero died in his 64th year 43 

BRUTUS.— Caesar is killed by Brutus and Cassius... 42 

Brutus passes into Macedonia 41 

MARK ANTONY beaten the same year by Augustus 
at Modena. He retires to Lepidus. The triumvi- 
rate of Augustus, Lepidus, and Antony, who divide 
the empire amongst them 41 

The battle of Philippi, in which Brutus and Cassius, 
being overthrown by Augustus and Antony, lay 
violent hands on themselves 40 

Antony leagues with Sextus, the son of Pompey, 
against Augustus 39 

Augustus and Antony renew their friendship after 
the death of Fulvia, and Antony marries Octavia. 38 

Augustus and Antony again embroiled 31 

The battle of Actium. Antony is beaten, and flies 
into Egypt with Cleopatra 30 

Augustus makes himself master of Alexandria. 
Antony and Cleopatra destroy themselves 30 

Horace dies, aged 57 8 

The Christian Era begins. 




INDEX 



PAGE 

Abantes 16 

Absolute monarchy 37 

Achaean league 222 

Acron 22 

Actium (battle of) . 214 

Adrastus 19 

AZgos Po tamos 

(battle of) 102 

JEthvsi 15 

Agariste 50 

Agesilaus 133 

Agis 185 

Ajax 63 

Alcibiades 63, 102 

Alexander 135, 154 

Allia (river) 48 

Amazons 18 

Ambrones 100 

Aminias 44 

Anaxagoras 51 

Anaximenes 41 

Anio (river) 50 

Antigonus .... 132, 190 

Antiope 18 

Antium 58 

Antony (Mark) 205, 211 

Apollo 223 

Apollonius 172 

Apothetse 28 



PAGE 

Aquarium 115 

Aratus 222 

Archidamus 52 

Archimedes 79 

Areopagus . 38, 39, 200 

Ariadne 16, 17 

Ariamenes 43 

Aristides 42, 84 

Aristotle 156 

Artaxerxes 220 

Artemisium (fight 

at) 43 

Artillerymen 82 

Asp kills Cleopatra 215 

Asparagus 175 

Attica 17 

Aventine, Mount.. 21 

Bath, grooms of . . 165 

Battery (naval) . . 79 

Battle signal 147 

Beards cut off 16 

Bees 40 

Belgae 141 

Black days 112 

Bloody corn 58 

Boat (punish' t) 221 

Bceotia 78 

Boroughs 34 



232 



TNDEX, 



PAGE 

Boundaries 18 

Brennus 48 

Bribery 69, 200 

Britain 175 

Britons 141 

Brundusium 146 

Brutus (Marcus) . . 218 
Bucephalus 155, 164,167 
Building ruination. 123 

Bull's blood 45, 92 

Burials 31, 134, 223 

C-ECIAS 128 

Caesar, Julius. 171, 219 

Caius Marius 98 

Calendar 35, 181 

Calippus 217 

Camillus 45 

Candidates 69 

Casca 181, 219 

Cassius 219 

Catiline 203 

Cato (Censor) 86 

Cato 143, 173, 207 

Cato (the younger) 183 

Celer 21 

Celeres 24, 32 

Celibacy 105 

Centaurs 19 

Ceres 66 

Chance 72 

Characitani 127 

Chariot (triumph) . 47 

Chickens. 192 

Chief priest 32 

Cicero 172, 202 

Cimon .... 20, 42, 108 
Citium (siege of) . . 109 
Citizens' supper. . . 108 



PAGE 

Cleomenes 188 

Cleopatra 161, 179, 212 

Cleophylus 25 

Clinias 63 

Clothing 182 

Coalemos (idiot) . . 108 

Coat of mail 209 

Coinage 26 

Cold wine 170 

Company halls 34 

Coriolanus 67 

Corpses 31 

Corynetes 18 

Country life 34 

Court hall 18 

Crassus (Marcus) . . 123 

Cretan frugality. . . 25 

Crimesus (river) ... 71 

Critias 66 

Crommyonian Sow. 15 

Cross and snake. . . 191 

Crows (omen) .... 207 

Crucifixion, a 170 

Cunaxa (battle of) . 221 

Curius 94 

Cyprus 209 

Cyprus (Soli) 40 

Cyrus 169 

Cyrus (the younger) 102 

Damon 51 

Darius 157 

Dead men 38 

Dead soldiers 119 

Debt-cutters 38 

Debtors 118 

Delos 17 

Delphi 16, 17 

Delphinian Apollo. 16 



INDEX. 



2 33 



PAGE 

Demetrius 208 

Democracy 25 

Demosthenes, 

120, 157. 197 

Dice 64, 185 

Diet, spare 28 

Diogenes 157 

Diomedes 214 

Dion 215 

Dionysius 216 

Ditches '. . . . 39 

Draco's laws 38 

Dress of women ... 39 
Dust in war 129 

Earthquake 59 

Eclipses... 55, 120, 163 

Education 27 

Egypt's queen ... 179 
Elephants.. 83, 95, 167 

Elephenor 20 

Eleusis 66 

Embalming 140 

Entertainments 142, 185 

Epaminondas 78 

Ephori 133, 891 

Epirus 93 

Epitaph (Cyrus's). 169 

Eubcea 42 

Eumolpidse 66 

Eumenes 130 

Euripides 65 

Execestides 36 

Fabii, the 56 

Fabius Maximus . . 56 

Falerians 58 

Falling stars 103 

False news 123 



page 

Faustulus 21 

Favonius 145 

Fences abolished . . 104 
Fight in a city .... 96 

Fines 133 

Fire, from sun 33 

Fires in city 123 

Fire stones 58 

First fruits (hair) . 16 
Fishing (Antony) . 214 
Flaminius, T. Q. 59, 91 

Flute, the 64 

Fortune 72 

Fulvius 92 

Funeral orations 39, 212 
Funerals 39 

Gaugamela (battle 

of) 163 

Gauls, at Rome ... 48 

Geese, the sacred. . 49 

Good, Phocionthe. 183 

Gracchus, Caius. . . 194 

Gracchus, Tiberius 192 

Guardians 197 

Gylippus 121 

Gymnastics 222 

Hair 16, 29 

Hannibal, 

58, 59, 60, 83, 92 
Head, weight in 

gold 196 

Helepoles 209 

Helicon 164 

Hephaestion 171 

Herodotus 19 

High Court 39 

Hippoclus 77 



234 



INDEX, 



PAGE 

Homer 25, 156 

Honest man 216 

House expenses ... 54 
Husbandmen 18 

Idleness punished. 38 

Illuminations 213 

Intramural burials. 223 

Ion 54 

Isthmian games ... 18 

Janus (temple of) . 36 

Jason 19 

Judicature 195 

Juno's temple 46 

Just, Aristides the. 84 

Justice 216 

Labyrinth 17 

Lacedsemon 52 

Lamps 204 

Land, division of . . 25 

Languages 213 

Laughter, god of . . 30 

Lawsuits 30 

Legion 21 

Lendingmoney 118, 185 

Leonidas 161 

Lesche 28 

Leuctra (battle of) 

78, 134 

Libraries 117, 178 

Lisping 63 

Livy 92 

Longimanus 220 

Lucullus 109 

Luxury 115 

Lycomedes 19, 44 

Lycurgus 24 

Lyre, the 64 



PAGE 

Lysander 66, 102 

Lysimachus 84 

Macedonia 78 

Malli, the 168 

Manlius 92 

Marathonian bull. . 16 

Marcellus 79 

Marcellus (Caesar) . 144 

Marcius 32 

Marcus Brutus 218 

Marcus Crassus ... 123 

Marius 98 

Mark Antony . 205 , 211 

Markets 195 

Marseilles 37 

Mathematics 82 

Meals 161 

Mechanics (men) . . 53 

Median war 20 

Meleager 19 

Menestheus 19 

Messenia 78 

Milestones 196 

Military tribunes. . 46 

Mines in war 46 

Minotaur 16 

Minucius 61 

Mithridates . . 139, 222 

Mithridatic war ... 33 

Mnemon 221 

Mourning 33 

Munda (battle of) . . 180 

Naval fight 43 

Neoptolemus . . 94, 131 

Nicias 118 

Nicon (elephant) . . 96 

Nightingale 29 



INDEX. 



235 



PAGE 

Nobleman 18 

Numa 31 

Oil-Trade (Plato's) 37 

Olympias 52 

Olympic games . 42, 65 
Omens ... 71, 103, 162 

Onion-head 51 

Oratory (bar) 125 

Ostracism, the . . 45, 85 
Ox (on money) ... 18 
Oxen in war 60 

Pagi, or boroughs . 34 

Palatine Hill 203 

Palm (victor's) .... 17 

Parsley as an omen 71 

Patricians 21 

PaulusiEmilius. .. 73 

Pelopidas 77 

Peloponnesian war, 

55, 103 
Pen, poison in the 201 

People's friend 41 

Pericles 50 

Perpenna 130 

Perpetual fire 33 

Perseus 74 

Petitions 210 

Phsedo 20 

Pharsalia (battle of) , 

151, 178, 206 

Philip 154, 223 

Philippi (battle of) 220 

Philippics 205 

Philochorus 19 

Philopcemen go 

Phocion 182 

Pindar 43 



PAGE 

Pirates 137, 171 

Plato 182, 185, 205, 216 
Poison, death by, 

183, 201 

Polymachus 169 

Polytion 66 

Pompey 125, 135 

Pompey, jun 207 

Pompey' s statue, 

181, 219 

Pomponius 32 

Pontifices, the .... 33 
Pontifix Maximus. . 32 

Pontius 48 

Presages 192 

Prodigies 58 

Proserpine 66 

Prytaneum 18 

Ptolemy 153, 208 

Publicola 40, 41 

Public tables 26 

Public works 53 

Publius 142 

Purple robe 209 

Pydna (battle of) . . 74 
Pyrrhus 93 

Quirites 31 

Quoits 27 

Remonium 21 

Remus 21 

Republic 222 

Riot, a 194 

Roads 195 

Rome rebuilt 50 

Rome taken 48 

Romulus 20 

Rubicon 145, 177 



236 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Sabine women . . .22, 23 

Sacred lamp 106 

Sacrifices 161 

Salamis (battle of) 43 

Sambuca 81 

Sarpedon 184 

Schinocephalus ... 50 

Scipio 142 

Sciron 15 

Secretaries 175 

Senate 22, 25 

Serpents igi 

Sertorius 126 

Sight-seeing 196 

Sinnis 15 

Socrates 65 

Solon 36 

Soothsayers 219 

Sosicles 44 

Spain (Caesar in) . . 172 
Spartan simplicity. 186 
Speeches (Phocion ' s) , 

182 

Spies 127, 217 

Spleen, cure for ... 94 

Stammering 199 

Strangers 124 

Superstitions. . . 51, 170 

Supper 190 

Sylla .... 101, io.s, 135 
Syracuse (siege of) , 

"70, 79, 119 

Tarentines, the ... 94 

Teeth (curious) ... 94 

Teleclides 51 

Thasymenus (lake) 59 

Theatricals 52 

Thebes 19 



PAGE 

Themistocles 42 

Theodorus 66 

Theseus 15 

Thessalus 66 

Thirty tyrants 66 

Thrushes 116 

Thucydides 52, 57 

Tile kills Pyrrhus, a 97 

Timoleon 70 

Titus Flaminius ... 91 

Toga virilis 219 

Tomb of Cyrus .... 169 
Trade companies . . 34 
Trades (various) . . 53 
Treats and gratui- 
ties 69 

Trebia (battle of) . . 58 

Tree-planting 39 

Triumph, a 74 

Triumphs 140 

Trojan war 20 

Trophy, war 22 

Truce for burying. . 19 

Turpentine 221 

Tuscany 58 

Tusculum S6 

Tyndaridae 19 

Tyre (siege of) ... . 161 

Valerius Flaccus . 87 

Veii (siege of) 46 

Veni, vidi, vici .... 179 

Verrucosus 56 

Vest 211 

Vestal virgins 33 

Vetch 202 

Vinegar as a drink. 87 

Virgins' exercises. . 27 

Votes sold 176 



INDEX 



237 



Wealth (Solon's). 
Widows (soldiers') 

Wills 

Wine bath 

Wolf (Romulus) 
W omen (laws). . 
Women in war. 



PAGE 

37 
46 

39 
28 
21 

39 
100 



Wrestlers. 



27, 64, 90 



PAGE 

Xanthippus 50 

Xerxes 43, 115 

Yf a r, days in 35 

Zama (battle of) 92 

Zela (battle of) 179 

Zeno 51 



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ETIQUETTE 

By Agnes H* Morton 
There is no passport to good society like good 
manners. Even though a person possess wealth 
and intelligence, his success in life may be marred 
by ignorance of social customs. A perusal of this 
book will prevent such blunders. It is a book for 
everybody, for the select sets as well as for the less 
ambitious. The subject is presented in a bright and 
interesting manner, and represents the latest vogua 

¥ 

LETTER WRITING 

By Agnes H. Morton 

Why do most persons dislike letter writing? Is it 
not because they cannot say the right thing in the 
right place? This admirable book not only shows 
by numerous examples just what kind of letters to 
write, but by directions and suggestions enables the 
reader to become an accomplished original letter 
writer. There are forms for all kinds of business 
and social letters, including invitations, acceptances, 
letters of sympathy, congratulations, and love letters. 



QUOTATIONS 

By Agnes H* Morton 
A clever compilation of pithy quotations, selected 
from a great variety of sources, and alphabetically 
arranged according to the sentiment. In addition 
to all the popular quotations in current use, it con- 
tains many rare bits of prose and verse not generally 
found in similar collections. An important feature 
of the book is the characteristic lines from well 
known authors, in which the familiar sayings are 
credited to their original sources. 

¥ 

A DICTIONARY OF MYTHOLOGY 

By John H, Bechtel 
The average person dislikes to look up a mytho- 
logical subject because of the time occupied. This 
book remedies that difficulty because in it can be 
found at a glance just what is wanted. It is compre- 
hensive, convenient, condensed, and the information 
is presented in such an interesting manner as when 
once read to be always remembered. A distinctive 
feature of the book is the pronunciation of the 
proper names, something found in few other works. 



SLIPS OF SPEECH 

By John H. Bechtel 

Who does not make them ? The best of us do. Why 
not avoid them ? Any one inspired with the spirit 
of self-improvement can readily do so. No neces- 
sity for studying rules of grammar or rhetoric when 
this book can be had. It teaches both without the 
study of either. It is a counsellor, a critic, a com- 
panion, and a guide ; and is written in a most 
entertaining and chatty style. 



HANDBOOK OF PRONUNCIATION 

By John H. Bechtel 

What is more disagreeable than a faulty pronuncia- 
tion ? No other defect so clearly shows a lack of 
culture. This book contains over 5,000 words on 
which most of us are apt to trip. They are here 
pronounced in the clearest and simplest manner, 
and according to the best authority. It is more 
readily consulted than a dictionary, and is just as 
reliable. 



PRACTICAL SYNONYMS 

By John H. Bechtel 
Any one with the least desire to add to his vocabu- 
lary or to improve his choice of words should have 
a copy of this book. It is designed mainly to meet 
the wants of busy merchants or lawyers, thoughtful 
clergymen or teachers, and wide-awake school-boys 
or girls who are ambitious to express the thoughts 
of the mind in more fitting phrases than they are 
at present capable of doing. 

¥ 

TOASTS 

By William Pittenger 
Most men dread being called upon to respond to a 
toast or to make an address. What would you not 
give for the ability to be rid of this embarrassment? 
No need to give much when you can learn the art 
from this little book. It will tell you how to do it ; 
not only that, but by example it will show the way. 
It is valuable not alone to the novice, but the 
experienced speaker will gather from it many 
suggestions. 

s 



THE DEBATER'S TREASURY 

By William Pittenger 
There is no greater ability than the power of skillful 
and forcible debate, and no accomplishment more 
readily acquired if the person is properly directed. 
In this little volume are directions for organizing 
and conducting debating societies and practical sug- 
gestions for all who desire to discuss questions in 
public. There is also a list of over 200 questions for 
debate, with arguments both affirmative and negative. 



PUNCTUATION 

By Paul Allardyce 
Few persons can punctuate properly ; to avoid mis- 
takes, many do not punctuate at all. A perusal of 
this book will remove all difficulties and make all 
points clear. The rules are clearly stated and freely 
illustrated, thus furnishing a most useful volume. 
The author is everywhere recognized as the leading 
authority upon the subject, and what he has to say 
is practical, concise, and comprehensive. 

6 



ORATORY 

By Henry "Ward Beecher 
It must be conceded that few men ever enjoyed a 
wider experience or achieved a higher reputation 
in the realm of public oratory than Mr. Beecher. 
What he had to say on this subject was born of 
experience, and his own inimitable style was at once 
both statement and illustration of his theme. This 
volume is a unique and masterly treatise on the 
fundamental principles of true oratory. 



CONVERSATION 

By J, P, Mahaffy 
Some people are accused of talking too much. Bat 
no one is ever taken to task for talking too well. Of 
all the accomplishments of modern society, that of 
being an agreeable conversationalist holds first place. 
Nothing is more delightful or valuable. To suggest 
what to say, just how and when to say it, is the 
general aim of this work, and it succeeds most 
admirably in its purpose. 

7 



READING AS A FINE ART 

By Ernest Legouve 

The ability to read aloud well, whether at the fire- 
side or on the public platform, is certainly a fine art. 
The directions and suggestions contained in this 
work of standard authority will go far toward the 
attainment of this delightful and valuable accom- 
plishment. The work is especially recommended to 
teachers and others interested in the instruction of 
public school pupils. 



WHIST 

By Cavendish Twenty-third Edition 

il According to Cavendish " is now almost as familiar 
an expression as " according to Hoyle." No whist 
player, whether a novice or an expert, can afford to 
be without the aid and support of Cavendish. No 
household in which the game is played is complete 
without a copy of this book. This edition contains 
all of the matter found in the English publication 
and at one-fourth the cost. 

8 



PARLOR GAMES 

By Helen E, Hollister 
" What shall we do to amuse ourselves and our 
friends?" is a question frequently propounded on 
rainy days and long winter evenings. This volume 
most happily answers this question, as it contains a 
splendid collection of all kinds of games for amuse- 
ment, entertainment, and instruction. The games 
are adapted to both old and young, as all classes 
will find them both profitable and interesting. 

BOTANY : 
THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 

By Julia MacNair Wright 
The scientific study of Botany made as interesting 
as a fairy tale. It is better reading than such tales, 
because of the profit. Each chapter is devoted to the 
month of the year in which plants of that month 
are in evidence. Not only is the subject treated with 
botanical accuracy, but there is given much prac- 
tical information pertaining to the care and treat- 
ment of plants and flowers. 



ASTRONOMY : 
THE SUN AND HIS FAMILY 

By Julia MacNair Wright 

Can you tell what causes day and night, seasons and 
years, tides and eclipses ? Why is the sky blue and 
Mars red? What are meteors and shooting stars? 
These and a thousand other questions are answered 
in a most fascinating way in this highly interesting 
volume. Few books contain as much valuable 
material so pleasantly packed in so small a space. 



FLOWERS: 
HOW TO GROW THEM 

By Ebcn E. Rexford 

Every woman loves flowers, but few succeed in grow- 
ing them. With the help so clearly given in this 
book no one need fail. It treats mainly of indoor 
flowers and plants — those for window gardening ; all 
about their selection, care, soil, air, light, warmth, 
etc. The chapter on table decoration alone is worth 
the price of the book. 

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